26/11-style hit foiled: 4 ‘Pak terrorists’ die after setting bomb-laden boat afire

New Delhi: A possible 26/11-style operation from Pakistan appears to have been foiled — as India was welcoming the New Year — when Indian Coast Guard vessels chased and intercepted a “suspicious fishing boat” apparently laden with explosives that ventured towards India from a location near Pakistan’s Karachi port with four suspected terrorists aboard.

The Coast Guard action took place 365 km from Porbandar, located on the Gujarat coast, on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. It is being suspected that the persons on board detonated the explosives on board by setting fire to the unlit boat when cornered.

Read | Pak boat had 'costly cargo' to be moved to India, say intercepts

In its official statement, the government said, “the boat and persons on board could not be saved or recovered”.

Ministry of defence (MoD) official sources said the boat was laden with explosives and also indicated that all four suspected terrorists died as a result of the blast.

The MoD said the “intelligence-based midnight operation” was launched to intercept “a fishing boat from Keti Bunder near Karachi (that) was planning some illicit transaction in the Arabian Sea”.

Read | Alert on Karnataka coastal belt after Pak boat intercepted

The MoD said the interception took place “near the Indo-Pak maritime boundary” after the Coast Guard’s Dornier aircraft conducted surveillance.

The Coast Guard did not suffer any casualties.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar also complimented the Indian Coast Guard and those involved in the operation.