PM briefed on terror attack at Pathankot air base

Washington/Islamabad: US Secretary of State John Kerry has called up Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and extended him full support to find out the truth in the terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, National Security Adviser Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar attended the meeting.

He held a meeting with senior Air Force officers and got first hand assessment of the post attack situation.

At least seven Indian troops and five attackers have been killed in the three days. At the base, after briefed by Air Commodore J S Dhamoon, he visited the area where the terrorists were holed up.

“We can confirm Secretary Kerry spoke today Prime Minister Sharif”. In one of his tweets, he said: “Was briefed in great detail on how our forces neutralised such a serious terrorist attack”.

“Noted with satisfaction the decision-making & its execution, the considerations that went into our tactical response”, Modi posted on Twitter after the visit, which included a briefing by top army and air force officials.

“Also noted coordination among various field units”. Lauded bravery and determination of our men and women on the ground. “They are our pride”, PM @narendramodi stated.

Earlier on January 5th, defence minister Manohar Parikkar had also visited the Air Force base.

In reply to a question in the National Assembly, Pakistan’s Parliament, Aziz said Pakistan and India’s foreign secretaries are scheduled to meet on January 15.

Amid tensions over the Pathankot attack probe, Pakistan Prime Minister has asserted that the world will see Islamabad’s “sincerity and effectiveness” in reaching concrete conclusions on the terror strike.

“India (wants) arrests made, weapons found and links discovered and Pakistan wants more evidence in order to do those things”, it said.

The terrorists are believed to have infiltrated into India from Pakistan side by taking advantage of broken border fencing.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that all the state institutions in Pakistan were fully committed to eliminate terrorism.

A website linked to the militant group has, meanwhile, posted an audio message celebrating the attack and chiding Pakistan for bowing to Indian dictates.

Indian authorities have blamed the attack on Pathankot airbase on the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has been banned by Pakistan but continues to be active in several parts of the country, including the southern part of Punjab province.