NIA chief visits the airbase to review progress of the probe.
Soldiers on the top of a building at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on Wednesday, a day after the end of military operations against militants. (Photo: PTI)
Pathankot/Islamabad: Combing operations were underway on Wednesday to sanitise the air base here that was under siege for four days after terrorists struck the forward installation even as the focus shifted to the probe in the terror strike with the NIA chief arriving here for an on-the-spot assessment. Security officials said on Wednesday that the combing operations may continue for a day or two at the forward base where seven security personnel and six terrorists were killed.
Braving firing and intermittent shooting of mortars by terrorists, National Security Guard (NSG) aided by Garuds and the Army conducted a chain of surgical ‘step-by-step’ operations to eliminate the six militants and ensured they were contained within a 250-meter radius.
An officer privy to the operation said it was a difficult task as on the one hand they had to secure families, air assets, buildings and on the other to contain terrorists in a specific area and neutralise them.
In the “well coordinated operation” troops managed to secure all air assets and 3,000 families housed in the over 1900-acre air base.
“The NSG aided by the Garuds, special forces of IAF, Army conducted step-by-step surgical operational at specific places with some fire power of army to conclude the engagement with terrorists in the 5-day long operation”, a senior officer said.
Meanwhile, the BSF will deploy 2,000 more personnel along the Punjab and Jammu borders in order to plug unfenced riverine and forest gaps even as it submitted a fresh report to the government stating there was no evidence of infiltration along the IB.
Fresh alert across Gurdaspur
An alert was sounded on Wednesday in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and a search operation launched in a village after locals reported sighting of two men in army uniform moving in suspicious manner, police said.
Some villagers reported that they had seen two men in army fatigues in Tibri, which is a cantonment area, police said.
Police reported the matter to Army and a joint search operation was launched, said SSP Gurpreet Singh. There were reports that five terrorists had sneaked into the border area of Gur-daspur and Pathankot.
India has not accused Pakistan: Pakistan Defence Minister
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif has said the Indian leadership had not levelled any allegation on Pakistan regarding the Pathankot airbase terror attack.
“Some elements wanted to sabotage the talks process between the two neighbouring countries through such terror acts, but they did not succeed in their nefarious designs,” he said in an interview with a Pakistani TV channel.
To a question, he said Pakistan itself was a victim of terrorism and was fighting a successful war against the menace.
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( Source : shafqat ali with agency inputs )
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