One security official was killed and a plane damaged in the pre-dawn assault at PAF Base Minhas, where suspected militants attacked.

The Air Force said seven to eight attackers with rocket propelled-grenades and suicide vests attacked the base, home to the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex that assembles Mirage and JF-17 fighter jets, at 2:00 am (2100 GMT Wednesday).

That gunmen disguised themselves in uniforms and got inside the facility just 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Islamabad will renew questions about security, particularly at a base which has been attacked twice before.

"Other miscreants then fired RPGs from outside the base boundary wall. As a result one PAF aircraft got damaged," the air force said in a statement.

Gunfire, rocket and hand grenade explosions were heard during heavy clashes. One officer told AFP that he saw flames after waking up for his late night meal, eaten during the dawn-to-dusk Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"There was an announcement by megaphone for soldiers not to move from the barracks and we were forbidden from going to the area where I saw the fire," he said. Special forces and police were scrambled to the scene.

"Eight terrorists have been killed and one security official martyred," an Air Force spokesman told AFP.

"The attackers were wearing security force uniforms but I can't specify of which force uniform they were wearing," he added.

At least seven of the attackers were wearing suicide vests.

The military initially said that two security personnel were killed but no explanation was given for revising down the number.

The base commander, who led the counter-attack, was wounded and forces were searching the base to ensure no other gunmen remained, the military said.

An AFP reporter who arrived at the base after daybreak said it was quiet, but saw a helicopter still hovering over the area several hours later.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban have targeted a string of military bases since rising up against the government in July 2007.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012