Search operations continue at Pathankot air base after terror attack

Gunshots and a blast were heard from the Indian Air Force (IAF) frontier base near Pathankot town on Sunday morning leading to speculation that one more terrorist could still be holed up inside. Sources said the terrorists, wearing army uniform, were highly trained and were heavily armed.

Another gunman was confirmed killed on Sunday in an operation to clear an Indian air base after a militant attack, a home ministry source told Reuters, bringing the total number of assailants eliminated to six.

The possible involvement of Pakistan-based militants threatens to derail talks between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight held a meeting with top officials to discuss the Pathankot terror attack. It houses a fleet of India’s Russian-origin MiG-21 fighters and Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, along with other military hardware.

“We interrogated the dismissed official for several hours today but so far we haven’t found any connection between the information he has shared with a cyber entity, who honeytrapped him over a social neyworking site, claiming to be a woman media personnel from United Kingdom and the attack at the Air Force base in Pathankot”, said a police official. The terrorists could not go beyond the “langar” (eating place) near the outer perimeter of the IAF complex as the security forces were ready to take them on, officials said about the operation which was supervised directly by Doval. The foreign secretaries of both nations are scheduled to meet in Islamabad later this month.

India says the group is backed by Pakistan, but Islamabad denies this.

The attack was viewed by many in India as an attempt to unravel recent progress in the country’s relationship with rival Pakistan.

Modi, at a speech in the southern city of Mysore, congratulated security forces “for turning the intentions of our country’s enemies into dust”.

Armed security officials stand guard at the Air Force base in Pathankot. “And I salute the martyrdom of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives”.

A senior minister in the government, Prakash Javadekar, said the process of talks with Pakistan “cannot be destroyed” because of one attack.

The US is committed to its strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism, he said in a statement.

In July 2015 seven people were killed in a similar attack when gunmen stormed a police station in nearby Gurdaspur district.