No Nuclear Threat in Pakistan Air Base Attack

Eight militants attacked an air force base in Kamra, Pakistan, on Aug. 16, after scaling the perimeter fence in the early morning hours. Over a two-hour period the militants killed one security officer and injured four others before base personnel dispatched them. Most of the attackers were wearing suicide vests, and they placed two improvised explosive devices that failed to detonate.

From 2007 to 2010 (as well as one incident in 2011 at the Karachi naval base), high-profile attacks against police, army and intelligence targets in Pakistan challenged the government's ability to control the country. The recent opening of NATO supply lines and the intensifying election season have recreated the conditions that gave the Pakistani Taliban the opportunity to conduct such attacks before 2010. The air base in Kamra is believed to store some of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, and many observers have recently questioned the security of these weapons. Though attacks like this are a serious breach of security and garner significant international attention, their execution lacks the planning, manpower and intelligence needed for a group to fundamentally threaten the nuclear stockpiles.