On day 3, search on for militants in Pathankot; explosions and firing continued overnight
Pathankot (Punjab): The operation against militants holed up at Pathankot air base entered the third day on Monday after explosions and firing continued intermittently overnight.
Security forces had on Sunday killed one of the at least two terrorists on the second day of the attack in which seven security personnel lost their lives including a Lieutenant Colonel of the NSG. Four terrorists were eliminated on Saturday when they had struck at the air base.
The operation stretched through the night with sounds of gunfire and explosions continuing till around 10 am today after which they have ceased. Attack helicopters were still flying over the area.
More quick response teams have been rushed to the site. Defence sources had last night said that one more terrorist was killed while another was injured.
The holed up militants were discovered in the forested area on the backside of the air base from where they are reported to have entered.
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Air Commodore JS Dhamoon, Air Officer Commanding at the base, had said seven security men--one Garud commando, one NSG officer and five personnel of Defence Security Corps(DSC) have been martyred inthe operation. Seventeen security personnel were also injured till now.
Lt Col E K Niranjan, a member of the NSG's Bomb Disposal Squad and a Kerala resident, died after he succumbed to injuries which he sustained while he was trying to retrieve a live grenade from the body of a dead terrorist. Four other security men were also injured in this explosion.
Three Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel also succumbed to injuries at the hospital here during the intervening night of January 2 and 3. Garud commando Gurusewak Singh and two members of the DSC were killed in the gunbattle on Saturday at the air base, located barely 35 km from the Indo-Pak border.
"We are sure that still there are at least two more terrorists as firing have come from two different places. But we are not sure whether there are some more. We will come to know the number of terrorists only after the completion of the operation and body count," Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had told a press conference in Delhi on Sunday.
Mehrishi told reporters that the last two gunmen had been cornered and would be "neutralized" soon.
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The attack on the Pathankot air force base started before dawn Saturday and is seen as an attempt to undo recent improvements in the relationship between archrivals India and Pakistan.
Mehrishi said authorities were alerted about a potential attack in Pathankot, and that aerial surveillance at the base spotted the suspected militants as they entered the compound. He said they were engaged by troops and were kept away from the base's aircraft and military equipment.
A senior air force officer, Air Marshal Anil Khosla, told reporters in New Delhi that the base will not be declared fully secured until the entire area is checked by troops.
The sprawling Pathankot air force base is spread over several kilometres, including some forested sections. It houses a fleet of India's Russian-origin MiG-21 fighter jets and Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, along with other military hardware.
The Defence Ministry said no aircraft or military equipment had been damaged in the fighting.
The base is on the highway that connects insurgency-plagued Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. It is also very close to border with Pakistan. The violence follows Prime Minister Modi's surprise December 25 visit to Pakistan, where he met with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif. The two also held an unscheduled meeting at the Paris climate change talks last month. Ahead of Modi's visit to Pakistan, the national security advisers of both countries met in Thailand. The foreign secretaries of both nations are to meet in Islamabad later this month.
The responses to the weekend attack from both countries have been muted so far, with neither New Delhi nor Islamabad giving any indication that the planned talks are under any threat.
In Pakistan, Sharif's foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, said in a radio interview Saturday, as the attack was unfolding, that Pakistan wants to consolidate its improved relations with India. Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned the attack. The reaction in India has also been quiet so far. While all political parties condemned the attack, there were no demands that the government call off talks with Pakistan.
