Five terrorists killed, operation still on: NSG

Slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” rented the air as the body of Garud commando Gursewak Singh, draped in the tricolour, reached his native Garnala village near Ambala, while the family members of the young Sikh, who was married in November, were inconsolable.

In Gurdaspur, Punjab, scores of mourners gathered at the house of Subedar Fateh Singh, 51, a shooter who had won Commonwealth medals.

Combing operations were continuing at the base, air force spokeswoman Rochelle D’Silva said.

Air assets at the base, including aircraft and helicopters, were secure, and there had been no collateral damage or civilian casualties, he added. In an effort to nullify the reports that government failed to stop the men from entering air-base despite having prior intelligence inputs of fidayeen incursion, the officials now claim that the two men could have ended far before the input came.

On Sunday, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told reporters that the last of the fighters had been cornered and would be “neutralised” soon.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj were also present in the meeting.

Pakistan has condemned the attack and said it wanted to continue to build on the goodwill created by the impromptu meeting between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif last month.

In a TV briefing from Pathankot, Air Commodore J.S. Dhamoon said the attackers had burst into a guards’ mess at the air base, where they were preparing breakfast on Saturday morning.

According to sources, the implications of the attack on relations with Pakistan are also believed to have been deliberated upon in the meeting.

The official said, “The terrorists’ tactics showcased that they had professional army training”.

However, India has refrained from the usual rhetoric of “we will teach them a lesson” after the initial leads of a possible Pakistani link emerged. The foreign secretaries of both nations are scheduled to meet in Islamabad later this month.

Superintendent of Police P Salwinder Singh’s SUV is believed to have been used by the terrorists to avoid detection of the Jammu-Pathankot highway.

Seven soldiers including a lieutenant-colonel in the elite National Security Guards commando unit were killed and 20 were injured in the assault at the base. Neither anyone in the government nor those involved in the counter-terror operations were still ready to declare a closure to the attack in Pathankot as they declared that the “operations are still going on”.

“Let the operation get over then the government will take a view”, Jaitley told ANI when asked if Indo-Pak talks will be affected in the wake of the Pathankot attack.

The first case pertains to Superintendent of Police Salwant Singh’s abduction and the second that of killing of taxi driver Ikagar Singh.