PNS Zulfiquar (F251) explained

PNS Zulfiquar (FFG-251) is the lead ship of the F-22P Zulfiquar-class guided missile frigates since 2009.[1] She was designed and constructed by Chinese firm, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, for the Pakistan Navy. The vessel's design is primarily influenced from the Type 053H3 frigate.[2]

Design and construction

After the bilateral contract was signed between Pakistan and China on 4 April 2006,[3] she was designed and constructed by the Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. in China and her steel cutting was held on 10 October 2006 in Shanghai.[4]

She was officially laid down on 24 July 2007 and was launched on 7 April 2008 to complete several sea trials in China.[4] She is the lead ship of her class and was acquired by the Pakistan Navy on 30 July 2009.[5] On 12 September 2009, she arrived and reported to her base, Naval Base Karachi and commissioned in the Navy.[6] [7]

The induction ceremony was held on 19 September 2009 with former Chairman joint chiefs General Tariq Majid visiting the ship and presented her with military colors.[8] The warship was later visited by General Ashfaq Pervez, the army chief and Admiral Noman Bashir who went to visit senior American officer, possibly Adm. Mike Mullen, abroad on the American aircraft carrier.[9]

Deployments and war service

See main article: War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), War in North-West Pakistan, Piracy off the coast of Somalia and War on Terror.

Following her commissioning, Zulfiquar has been deployed to witnessed actions in the War on Terror in Afghanistan and the piracy off the coast of Somalia, when she was deployed to lead military operation to provide rescue and sealift of the personnel of MV Suez in 2011.[10]

On 6 September 2014, a serious incident took place involving Zulfiquar when al-Qaeda's Indian subcontinent branch attempted to take control of the vessel after penetrating the Naval Base Karachi. The Navy Special Service Group's Navy SEAL Teams and 1st Marines responded by engaging the attackers and succeeded in capturing four assailants alive who were locked away in the ship's compartment.[11] The motive appeared to be that the attackers, still on active duty with the Navy, wanted to engage the U.S. Navy's fleet in the Indian Ocean with its cruise and anti-ship missile system.[12]

Several Western sources reported that 11 people were killed following a gunfight and a suicide attack: 10 attackers—four on the Zulfiquar, including the organizers of the attack (Lieutenant Zeeshan Rafiq and Owais Jakhrani, a former lieutenant), and six more dressed as marines who attempted to infiltrate the ship via a nearby dinghy—and one petty officer.[13] [14] [15]

On 13 September 2014, the Navy confirmed that it had detained 17 naval personnel including three key naval officers who were trying to flee to Afghanistan through Mastung in Balochistan in Pakistan.[11] On 25 March 2016, the Navy JAG Corps announced that five naval officers had been sentenced to death for their involvement in the attack.[14] [16]

Unnamed officials told Steve Coll that India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has evidence indicating that, unbeknownst to the attackers, the Zulfiquar was carrying a nuclear warhead during the incident. However, this intelligence reporting is uncorroborated and notably inconsistent with public information regarding Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, its delivery systems, and its methods of handling nuclear materials.[15] [17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PNS Zulfiquar (251) Guided-Missile Frigate Warship - Pakistan . www.militaryfactory.com . militaryfactory . 11 December 2018.
  2. Web site: Sword / F-22P Class Frigates, Pakistan. Naval Technology. 10 May 2014.
  3. Book: Fagoyinbo . Joseph Babatunde . The Armed Forces: Instrument of Peace, Strength, Development and Prosperity . 2013 . AuthorHouse . UK . 9781477226476 . 475 . 21 September 2018 . en . google books . .
  4. News: Agencies . NNI . Pakistan naval ship PNS Zulfiquar to reach Singapore tomorrow . 20 December 2018 . The Nation . The Nation . The Nation . 12 May 2017 . Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan . en .
  5. Web site: Pakistan Gets New Chinese Frigate . 2008-10-21 . Wendell Minnick . 2008-04-10 . DefenseNews . dead . https://www.webcitation.org/664ykuIOw?url=http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3472967&c=SEA&s=ASI . 2012-03-11 .
  6. News: Pakistan gets Chinese F-22P frigates . 20 December 2018 . Rediff . Rediff . Rediff . 12 September 2009.
  7. News: Reporter . Our Staff . F-22P frigate boost for Pak Navy . 20 December 2018 . The Nation . The Nation . The Nation . 13 September 2009 . en.
  8. News: PNS Zulfiquar inducted in Pakistan Navy Fleet . 20 December 2018 . AAJ News . 20 September 2009 . Naval Base Karachi . en .
  9. Web site: Joscelyn . Thomas . Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent claims attacks on Pakistani ships were more audacious than reported FDD's Long War Journal . www.longwarjournal.org . longwarjournal . 20 December 2018 . en . 29 September 2014.
  10. News: MV Suez sinks: All crew members board PNS Zulfiqar . 20 December 2018 . The Express Tribune . The Express Tribune . The Express Tribune . 21 June 2011.
  11. News: Zaman . Fahim . Ali . Naziha Syed . Dockyard attackers planned to hijack Navy frigate . 20 December 2018 . DAWN.COM . Dawn Newspaper . Dawn Newspaper . 13 September 2014 . Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan . en .
  12. News: Sherazi . Zahir Shah . Shah . S. Ali . Navy officials arrested in connection with dockyard attack . 20 December 2018 . DAWN.COM . Dawn Newspaper . Dawn Newspaper . 11 September 2014 . en . 'The suspects are Navy officials,' he added, giving no details about their ranks..
  13. Web site: Hasan. Syed Shoaib. Shah. Saeed. Gorman. Siobhan. Al Qaeda Militants Tried to Seize Pakistan Navy Frigate. The Wall Street Journal. 16 September 2014. 19 February 2022. The Sept. 6 raid, which was foiled after a fire fight and a suicide bombing, was carried out in part by Pakistan Navy personnel who had been recruited by al Qaeda, these officials said. The raid, in which 10 militants and one petty officer died, raised fears about terrorist infiltration of the nuclear-armed nation's military forces..
  14. Web site: Hundley. Tom. India and Pakistan are quietly making nuclear war more likely. Vox. 4 April 2018. 19 February 2022. But an alert sailor on board the frigate noticed something was wrong. The men in the dinghy were armed with AK-47s—not the standard weapons used by Pakistani marines. When he challenged the group in the dinghy, a gunfight quickly erupted. While the attackers fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the sailor shredded the dingy with an anti-aircraft gun, killing all six. Hearing the commotion, navy commandos from another vessel rushed to the scene, but it still took several hours to regain control of the ship from the four rogue officers already on board. Eventually all of them were killed, the last one blowing himself up after he was cornered..
  15. Book: Coll, Steve. Steve Coll. Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Penguin Group. 2019. 9780143132509. 653–660, 726.
  16. News: AFP News Desk . PNS Zulfiqar attack: Five navy officers get death penalty . 20 December 2018 . The Express Tribune . The Express Tribune . The Express Tribune . 25 May 2016.
  17. Web site: Panda. Ankit. A Nuclear Angle to the 2014 PNS Zulfiquar Attack?. The Diplomat. 20 February 2018. 19 February 2022.

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