Peshawar air force base
At least eight militants were killed by the Pakistani army after gunmen attacked the Badaber air force base in the northwestern city of Peshawar Friday. In this photo, Pakistani soldiers and police commandos arrive to take position outside the Badaber air for base after the attack on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. Getty Images/AFP/A Majeed

Update as of 2:11 a.m. EDT: Pakistani Taliban killed 16 people inside a Peshawar mosque in northwestern Pakistan during an attack on the Badaber air force base early Friday, an army spokesman announced on Twitter.

The attackers stormed the mosque and gunned down the worshippers, Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said, adding that 13 gunmen were also killed in the attack, which began after the militants entered the base through two separate entry points.

Original story:

Pakistani soldiers killed at least eight militants who attacked an air force base in the country’s northwestern city of Peshawar early Friday, the army said. Ten soldiers, including two army officers, were injured in the attack.

About seven to 10 militants attacked a guard room of the Badaber air base and tried to storm in but the attempt was foiled by soldiers who launched a counter-attack, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa announced on Twitter. The army was searching for militants who may have gone into hiding, Bajwa added on Twitter.

Television footage reportedly showed army helicopters hovering over the base. Local police officer Shahid Khan Bangash said, according to the Associated Press (AP), that an explosion was heard after the attackers tried to force their way into the air base.

"We are hearing that the attackers were armed with guns and rockets," Bangash reportedly said, adding that the gunmen threw grenades at the guard post but could not enter the base.

Mohamad Khurasani, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, and said the group would soon release more details about the attackers, the AP reported.

The attack reportedly came a day after Junaid Khan, a counter-terrorism officer in the southeastern city of Karachi, said his group arrested a militant trying to launch an attack on an air force facility in Kamra, in northwestern Pakistan. The militant was identified as Umar Hayat and investigators were reportedly interrogating him.

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