KARACHI – Pakistan on Monday regained control of a naval base in the country's biggest city, 17 hours after heavily armed Taliban men attacked, destroying two U.S.-made surveillance planes and killing 10 personnel.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that 10 people have been martyred and four terrorists have been confirmed killed in the operation between militants and security forces at the PNS (Pakistan Naval Station) Mehran base in Karachi.Talking to the media after a survey of the base, Malik said security forces launched a coordinated operation to regain control of the navy base.“We wanted to bring all the logistics under one command against the enemy,” said Malik, adding that navy forces were assisted by commandos, firemen, Rangers and police.He said that among the six terrorists present at the site, one suicide bomber’s head had been recovered, while four bodies were also found. He added, however, that two individuals were seen running off the base.Malik mentioned that one terrorist, whose picture was shown, was ready to blow himself up.The interior minister mentioned that the terrorist’s suicide jacket was still operational and there were several undetonated grenades on the site as well, adding that there might be explosives in the building which collapsed.The terrorists had been using heavy weaponry, said Malik, “the kind no common man can afford to buy”.It was the worst assault on a military base since the army headquarters was besieged in October 2009, piling further embarrassment on the armed forces three weeks after Osama bin Laden was found living under their noses.Officials said 11 Chinese and six American maintenance contractors were evacuated safely during the attack, but it took 17 hours before the navy confirmed that the attack on the Mehran base was over.“We have cleared the base. The operation has been completed and the base is now under our control,” Commodore Irfan ul Haq told AFP.“The navy was in a high state of alert,” Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder said, adding that “the attack raises a lot of questions as to how such a large number of people, so well armed, could have actually gotten into the base”.Talat Hussain, a senior Pakistani journalist, told Pakistan's Dawn News that “We need to realize that this is not just an incident. The reality is that Pakistan is under attack, it is not just a security breach.”Earlier a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban said that the team of militants they sent into Karachi's PNS Mehran naval base on Sunday night had enough supplies to survive a three-day siege.“They have enough ammunition and food and they can fight and survive for three days,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, a Taliban spokesman, told Reuters news agency.“It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful,” Ehsan added.“We had already warned after Osama's martyrdom that we will carry out even bigger attacks,” he said, referring to previous vows to avenge the killing of the Al-Qaeda leader by U.S. special forces three weeks ago.Speaking to Al Jazeera, Fazal Qureshi, chief editor at the Pakistan Press International news agency in Karachi said: “This operation is probably one of the longest operations which we have seen in Pakistan.”According to navy officials operation went on for hours because they were trying to capture the fighters alive.Intelligence officials said that three hangars housing aircrafts had been attacked.Five explosions were heard at the base ahead of the attack, according to Pakistani Express TV.Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday condemned the terrorist attack.“Such a cowardly act of terror could not deter the commitment of the government and people of Pakistan to fight terrorism,” Gilani said in statement.Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened further attacks.Photo: A soldier poses with the victory sign after killing terrorists in Karachi on May 23, 2011.