Pakistan: Taliban Attack Air Force Base

Islamic militants attacked a Pakistani airbase early on Thursday.

The base is believed to house nuclear weapons.

The attack was repelled, and it seems all the gunmen were killed.

But the base took some damage: flames and smoke could be seen rising from the airfield, and the base commander himself was reported to be wounded.

Blake Hounshell, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine, says Pakistan was on a high state of alert, because of intelligence warnings of an attack.

“It’s alarming,” says Hounshell that militants can break in to such a secure nuclear facility during a red alert. He says this kind of thing “keeps … me up at night.”

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.