ISLAMABAD: Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Noman Bashir on Tuesday refused to participate in a meeting of the Senate's Standing Committee on Defence, DawnNews reported.

The Senate committee had called Mr Bashir for a briefing on the PNS Mehran attack.

The committee's meeting was held under the chairmanship of Javed Ashraf Qazi during which junior Pakistan navy officers briefed the members on the attack.

The committee expressed concern as to how terrorists were able to reach the hangars and parking areas of the naval base and why it took 16 hours to clear the base.