Pakistan Navy court-martials 3 officers

The Pakistani Navy has court-martialed three officers for "negligence" in connection with a dramatic Taliban attack on a naval base in the southern port city of Karachi last year, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The brazen, 18-hour assault on Naval Station Mehran last May destroyed two US-supplied surveillance aircraft and killed 10 people on the base.

The ability of the militants to penetrate the high-security base led to speculation they may have had inside information or assistance.

The three naval officers were punished for "negligence in their duty performance," but there was no evidence they were linked to the militants or helped them attack the base, said Navy spokesman Commodore Irfanul Haq. He declined to identify the names or ranks of the officers, or provide details about their punishment.

Military personnel who are court-martialed in Pakistan can be stripped of their rank and kicked out of the force, depending on the severity of the verdict handed down by the military court. They could also be demoted in rank.

The base attack was an embarrassment for the Pakistani military, especially since it came about three weeks after US commandos killed al-Qaida chief

Osama bin Laden in a covert raid in the northwest Pakistani town of Abbottabad. The operation outraged Pakistani officials because they were not told about it beforehand and left the Pakistani military red-faced because they were unable to stop it.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the base attack and said it was in retaliation for the killing of bin Laden.