A second air man died of injuries sustained in an audacious Islamist assault on a key Pakistani air base, raising the overall death toll from the attack to 11, the military said Friday.

Heavily armed militants dressed in fatigues and wearing suicide vests stormed the base on Thursday, sparking heavy clashes that killed one security official and nine attackers at PAF Base Minhas in the northwestern town of Kamra.

Air Force spokesman Tariq Mahmood told AFP that a second air man had died in hospital on Friday morning as a result of injuries from the assault.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed what was the worst attack on a military base for more than a year, reviving concerns about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

PAF Minhas, in Punjab province and only 60 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of Islamabad, has been attacked twice before, but on previous occasions the militants had not managed to penetrate the compound.

Its aeronautical complex assembles Mirage and, with Chinese help, JF-17 fighter jets.