Key Pakistan air base under attack

Militant gunmen attacked a key Pakistani air force base before dawn Thursday, sparking an intense exchange of fire, officials said. Security forces were returning fire and special forces commandos were scrambled to respond to the attack at the base in the northwestern town of Kamra, 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Islamabad. Witnesses said they could hear gun and rocket fire coming from the facility, which contains a number of aircraft factories. There was no immediate confirmation of the number of attackers or whether there were any casualties. The Kamra base, between the capital and and the main northwestern city of Peshawar, was previously targeted on December 10, 2007 when a suicide car bomber struck a school bus, wounding at least five children of base employees.