plawolf
Lieutenant General
The BBC has just reported on the Taliban attack on Mehran naval air base in Pakistan. While that is a tragic and deplorable act that has sadly already cost over a dozen lives and probably the loss of at least one Orion, what caught my eye was the comment that initial reports suggested Chinese military personel were amongst the hostages.
Does anyone else have any more details or confirmation that PLA personnel were present at the base at the time of the attack? If it turns out that Chinese personnel were at the base, it might cause some awkward questions from the US about what they were doing there, especially since P3Cs are also based there. Does the US only have restrictions that the newest F16s must be based where Chinese personnel do not have access to, or do the P3Cs also have similar restrictions?
If PLA personnel are still being held hostage on the naval base, this would become an international incident. And might cause Pakistan additional headaches as the last thing they need now is for Chinese military personnel to be killed in a rescue bid.
I also wonder if the PLA would offer to send in their own special forces to help out in any rescue bid if some of the hostages were important Chinese officers or speicalists.
Does anyone else have any more details or confirmation that PLA personnel were present at the base at the time of the attack? If it turns out that Chinese personnel were at the base, it might cause some awkward questions from the US about what they were doing there, especially since P3Cs are also based there. Does the US only have restrictions that the newest F16s must be based where Chinese personnel do not have access to, or do the P3Cs also have similar restrictions?
If PLA personnel are still being held hostage on the naval base, this would become an international incident. And might cause Pakistan additional headaches as the last thing they need now is for Chinese military personnel to be killed in a rescue bid.
I also wonder if the PLA would offer to send in their own special forces to help out in any rescue bid if some of the hostages were important Chinese officers or speicalists.