Pathankot attack: Operations on to kill remaining terrorists, says IAF

“The area [airforce base] can not be declared fully sanitised”, air marshal Anil Khosla told reporters in New Delhi this evening.

Punjab Police on Monday arrested three men linked to smuggling gangs and recovered sophisticated weapons with Pakistani and Chinese markings from them.

A team of NIA was at the spot on Saturday as per the standard operating procedure and on Sunday the Government made a decision to hand over the case to the NIA after taking concurrence from the Punjab government, official sources said.

Pakistan-based United Jehad Council claims responsibility for the attack..

The violence follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise December 25 visit to Pakistan, where he met his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.

Singh, who was flanked by Air officer commanding, Air commodore J S Damoon and Brigadier Anupinder Singh, said “the entire operation will continue till all the personnel, assets, structure are physically combed”.

Based on intercepts, security agencies believe that one Nazeer from Bahawalpur in Pakistan was leading the group.

The sprawling Pathankot air force base is spread over several kilometres, including some forested sections.

Military trucks were seen entering and leaving the walled compound and helicopters were flying over it on Monday morning. Dozens of security guards continued their vigil, while protesters shouted slogans and burned a Pakistani flag nearby. While authorities have confirmed that four terrorists have been killed, there is still no clarity on how many terrorists crossed over to the Indian side.

Border Security Force now has 178 Border Out Posts in Punjab and 90 in Jammu and Kashmir along the worldwide border. Local news reports said a soldier from a commando unit had been killed while defusing explosives.

“The air base is large and we have been working all night to ensure that the base is totally in our control”, he said. On Saturday afternoon, police said the base had been secured. All vital installations and government offices were informed about a likely terror attack and efforts were mounted to track down the terrorists who had earlier killed a taxi driver, he said.

In New Delhi, two trains were delayed early on Sunday amid heightened security concerns after officials received information about a possible bomb threat on an intercity train, railways spokesman Neeraj Sharma said.

Trains were deemed safe and were running on schedule by mid-morning, Sharma said. Three other IAF personnel, from the Defence Security Corps (DSC), succumbed to their injuries on Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh, from India’s elite National Security Guard, told reporters in Pathankot that it will take a “long time” to declare the base completely secure because of its size and geography.

On the receipt of the input of a terror strike in the air base, army initially mobilised six columns and subsequently two more columns along with a platoon of Infantry Combat Vehicles were deployed at the air base.