Death toll in Indian base attack rises to 6 troops, 4 gunmen

With the obvious intention of destroying fighter jets and attack helicopters housed there, the group of terrorists in army fatigues attempted to storm the base which is barely 35 kms from the global border with Pakistan but failed to go beyond the outer periphery.

One of the Indian security men killed in the attack was Subedar Fateh Singh, who won gold and silver medals in the first Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in 1995, the National Rifle Association of India said.

The attack on the Pathankot air force base, which started before dawn Saturday, left seven Indian troops and four gunmen dead, and is seen as an attempt to undo recent improvements in the relationship between archrivals India and Pakistan. IAF helicopters were also seen flying over the base and nearby areas to assist ground forces in the operations.

The BBC said it is not clear who the attackers are but suspicion is falling on Kashmiri militant groups in Pakistan.

The gunbattle – which lasted about 14 hours – came just a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to archrival Pakistan and met with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.

A strategy on Pakistan was discussed today by the government with former foreign secretaries and ex-envoys to the neighbouring country, a day after the terror strike at a vital air base in Pathankot.

“I congratulate our armed forces and other security forces on successfully neutralizing all the five terrorists in “Pathankot Operation”, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted after about 16-hour-long operation.

At least two security personnel were wounded in a blast on Sunday, a police official in Pathankot said, as troops scoured the base. It’s also very close to India’s border with Pakistan.

“These kinds of attacks are nothing new and have generally been the outcome of the dispute of India and Pakistan over Kashmir”, said Noor Ahmed Baba, a political scientist at Central University in Indian Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar. They didn’t let them succeed. “Building on the goodwill created during the recent high level contacts between the two countries, Pakistan remains committed to partner with India as well as other countries in the region to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism afflicting our region”, it said in a statement.

“We urge all countries in the region to work together to disrupt and dismantle terrorist networks and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous act”.

“It is a total failure of the Punjab police in preventing second terror attack after Dinanagar past year”. At least four attackers also died in shootouts with security forces.