Syed Yasir Abbas

Lieutenant Syed Yaser Abbas  S.Bt, was an aeronautical engineer in the Pakistan Navy, and was the Officer on Duty at PNS Mehran on the day of Mehran Attack. He was the first martyr of the PNS Mehran attack on May 22, 2011. He was first to lead the Rapid Response Squad consisting of Marines, in the fight against militants. During the gun-battle with the terrorists, Lt Yaser Abbas S.Bt braved three bullets on his chest prior to death. His other fellows including Lt. Athar, Aqeel and Daniyaal, leading other Squads at PNS Mehran, Karachi.

Early life and education
Lt. Syed Yaser Abbas S.Bt was born in 1986, belongs to Lahore. After doing intermediate from famous Pakistani college Garrison Degree College, Lahore Cantt Yaser appeared for Pakistan Air Force but he was rejected citing eye problem. He was offered education abroad by his father but he refused and appeared for entry in Pakistan Navy. He was selected in Pakistan Navy in 2004 Brave course. He then opted to join naval aviation as an engineer and was sent to Pakistan Air Force Academy for further training with 67th CAE/EC course of Aeronautical Engineering at College of Aeronautical Engineering Risalpur. He graduated from CAE as an Avionics Engineer with high grades on 18 November 2009. After graduating from Pakistan Air Force Academy, Lt. Yaser S.Bt was posted at PNS Mehran of Pakistan Navy in February 2010. He was deployed on Zolo-9 helicopter of Pakistan Navy as an EO. During month of May in 2011, due to the security situation in Karachi, he with his some other fellow officers were given the responsibility to lead the Quick Response Force (QRF) teams, and while leading the same team on 22 May 2011 he died. In recognition of his bravery Prime Minister Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gillani recommended his name for the prestigious award of Nishan-e-Haider, but on 14 August 2011 he was awarded with Sitare-e-Basalat Military.

Mehran Base Attack
The terrorists were very well trained and were equally well equipped with the latest gear. The amount of ammo that they carried with them was massive and they were using night vision goggles with other ultrasonic radio communication gear. The first target for them was P3C Orion planes. At that point in time there were two of them present very close to the place where the terrorists came in from. P3C are actually the eyes and ears of navy which gather valuable data about enemy from far away through air surveillance. This data help trace enemy movements and critical assets for planning purposes. Next were the range of helicopters and aircraft that were there in a line. To put cherry on top there were foreign engineers, from different countries, working on the base on various planes which were very east target for the terrorists. Even if one of them were killed this would have been a disaster for already strained image of Pakistan after the Saudi Diplomat killing. The planning of terrorist was perfect and they knew everything about what was there on the base and where to target it. They choose Sunday because the security at the base is minimal. Since most of the officers were off on Sunday there would have been no one at the base to stop them from destroying P3C Orion first and then the other fleet of helicopters and aircraft after which they would have either taken the foreign engineers as hostages for their exist strategy or they would have killed them, no one knows. But they missed out on one detail which prevented them from causing heavy damage compared to what they already did. Pakistan Navy after the attack on its Bus earlier this year created a rapid response force whose sole purpose was to quickly respond to any incident like this in the futures. On this particular night Yaser was the head of that force. When he heard the blast he instantly rushed towards the team which had already left for the scene. He followed them in a potohar jeep and parked just behind the bullet proof vehicle, which carried the other members of the team. They were receiving very heavy fire and since it was pitch dark virtually nothing was visible. In a battlefield, there are two ways for judging enemy’s position when they are not visible but firing from a distance. One is from the smoke that is left behind after firing the bullet and the other is the short flam that is created at the time a bullet is fired. There was none from where they were firing. We can judge the level of preparedness and training that they had before they attack. But what helped Yaser’s team was the light from the fire that was coming from P3C unfortunately. The terrorists were moving in the dark towards the compound where engineers were staying when Yaser and his team intercepted and engage them.

Yaser by profession was an aeronautical engineer in Pakistan Navy and his first love was the planes. When he saw that one of the planes, that he was the engineer of, was hit and its flames were dangerously close to the second one he thought that he could save the second plane if somehow they were able to take out the fire. So they fired heavily on the terrorist who were taken by surprise by his squared. They were pushed back and had to go to plan B because Yaser team was fighting back equally well. Every passing minute was very very valuable for the Pakistan Navy as they were able to secure the other important equipment on the base. So it was imperative for Yaser to buy as much time as possible till the SSG commandoes come to the scene. They were pushing the terrorist back which made them switch strategies.

In the meanwhile a fire brigade came to the scene and Yaser instantly ordered it to move towards the P3C to take the fire out. Since it was very dark Yaser and few members of his team took cover behind the fire brigade and started a cover fire as soon as the vehicle started moving towards the aircraft. Because of the cover fire they enemy was pushed back and then the unfortunate thing happen. Since it as pitch dark Yaser was not able to calculate the new position of the terrorists and when they were going towards the aircraft because of which terrorists and the Yaser team came face to face. Everyone ducked and lie down on the ground to take cover when Yaser faced the enemy head on. He was swift and controlled in his attach when he shot down one of the terrorists who didn’t even had time to budge but what he did not realize was that there were others who could see him clearly but he was not able to see them.

They fired right at him and he received his first bullet in his chest but that didn’t lowered his spirits and he kept firing at the enemy. He killed another terrorist after which he got shot for the second time in his chest. Even then when most of us would have pushed back he fought like a lion even when everyone else was lying down. Unfortunately on the tired bullet in his chest Yaser fell in the arms of a fellow team member still conscious but too hurt to stand. By this time approximately 20 minutes into the fight backup arrived and took over the fight.

Yaser was shifted to the sickbay in an ambulance still conscious from where he was shifted to the hospital. On the stretcher his first words were “how many bullets I got hit with?” on which the attendant replied “One sir you will be fine in no time.” Then the attendant asked “how many terrorist are there fighting?” he said “maybe 5 or 6, please inform my family about me” and then he went quiet. By the time he reached the hospital he was unconscious and on the operation table his heart pumped the last beat and he died.