Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called up his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday and assured prompt action against those responsible for the attack on the Pathankot air base.
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After initially refraining from blaming the country, a top government official said on Monday that the terrorists behind the Pathankot airbase attack appeared to have received training from a “professional armed force in Pakistan”.
“Unfortunately, India’s neighbour Pakistan has provided safe haven to terrorists for years from shielding Osama bin Laden to backing covert terrorist operations around the world”, he said.
Indian officials had been warned beforehand that an attack could be imminent at the Pathankot base, and had flown commandoes there in case of trouble.
Seven defence personnel were also killed in the gunfight that began in the early hours of Saturday and dragged on for the next three days till the operations ended late this afternoon. The US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan have already condemned the attack with America asserting that it expects Pakistan to take action against the perpetrators of the terror strike.
The NIA, he said, had “initial leads, where they (terrorists) have come from, how they have come”.
Reports said six attackers have been killed at the base.
Parrikar said the militants’ weapons included AK-47 assault rifles with makeshift rocket launchers attached, mortar rounds that could be fired from the launchers, pistols, and 50-60 kilograms (110-130 pounds) of ammunition.
“Whenever they want, wherever they want, they can target the enemy”, UJC leader Syed Salahuddin said in a voice recording released by a group spokesman on Tuesday. Parikkar said the operation was done without compromising any asset.
He also said that the infrastructure in the compound was also intact, with only one two-storeyed building, where the last two terrorists were holed out, suffering some damage in the efforts to flush them out.
The attack has also come a week after Prime Minister Modi, on his way back to Delhi from Kabul in Afghanistan, made a surprise stopover in Lahore on December 25 to greet Mr. Sharif on his birthday.
There is no suspected terrorist inside right now, says Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
An Intelligence official told The Hindu that establishing the identity of the terrorists would be a challenge because Pakistan would certainly not own them up.
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Officials said a hijacked police auto was used by gunmen in the attack. “So it is about 36 hours”, Parrikar said when asked how effective the counter offensive of the security forces was.
