Security forces continued search and combing operation inside the Pathankot air base on Tuesday – the fourth day after the attack on the frontline Air Force Station (AFS) by suspected Pakistani terrorists.
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The assault came just days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Lahore to meet Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif.
India has long accused Pakistan’s military of sponsoring terrorist groups that conduct cross-border attacks.
In a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led BJP government over the terror attacks in Pathankot, Shiv Sena has asked the PM to focus on the country and questioned the logic of talks with Pakistan at a time when India was bearing the brunt of Pak-sponsored terrorism.
The United Jihad Council, a militant group based in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan is investigating the possible involvement of terrorist groups operating from its soil in an attack on an Indian airbase in which at least 12 people died. Security forces worked Monday to “eliminate” two remaining militants.
Following this, on December 6, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua met in Bangkok which was also attended by Foreign Secretaries S. Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
On Sunday, the Indian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif came under attack.
India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday told journalists that “all six terrorists were neutralised”.
The reluctance of officials to declare the mission complete appeared to reflect an abundance of caution until all the attackers’s bodies had been accounted for.
“Pakistan must cooperate in nabbing the planners if they’re proven to be in Pakistan”, Islamabad-based Marvi Sirmed wrote in The Nation newspaper.
Security officials said they were focusing on a two-storey building that contained living quarters for families on the base where the militants had previously holed up. “The combing and search operations still continue”, the officer from the National Security Guard (NSG), a special forces unit, told journalists on condition of anonymity. Officials said no military hardware was damaged in the fighting.
“Our biggest concern is to protect public spaces”, Kumar said.
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He said the terrorists were carrying 40-50 kgs of bullets, mortars, which were fired from modified Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher besides some magazines.
