Indian troops still fighting 2 gunmen at Pathankot air base

Pathankot: At least two more terrorists were discovered at Pathankot air base as security forces continued their operations for the second day with military casualties mounting to seven, including a Lieutenant Colonel of the National Security Guards, who died on Sunday. Aerial surveillance detected the militants entering the compound, and the fighting began.

The attack started before dawn on Saturday, when a group of gunmen – wearing Indian army uniforms – entered the residential quarters on the base.

The attack was launched soon after a combing operation was carried out by the army on Friday in the area between the air base and Chakki river, police said.

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.

Indian-administered Kashmir has seen a long-running insurgency against rule from Delhi, and Kashmir has been a flashpoint in relations between Pakistan and India for almost 70 years since independence.

Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are expected to meet on January 15 to draw up a roadmap for bilateral engagement.

“The smoke can be seen coming from a building which was blown up by security forces to eliminate the last terrorist”, a police officer said.

The breaching of the base’s defences has raised questions about lax security on the global border in Punjab, which is a known route for drug smugglers and is less closely guarded than the disputed frontier running through Kashmir.

The attack followed Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s surprise Christmas Day visit to Pakistan, where he met his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in an effort to reopen peace talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Police are investigating whether the militants came from the Indian portion of Kashmir or from Pakistan.

Pakistan denies these allegations, claiming it provides Kashmiri separatists only moral and political support for their cause of an independent Muslim homeland.

Giving details of the attack, Air Commodore Dhamoon said: “During the search operation late in the night, one group was engaged by the Garuds (IAF commandos)”.

In Pakistan, Sharif’s foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, said in a radio interview Saturday, as the attack was unfolding, that Pakistan wants to consolidate its improved relations with India. The opposition parties have said the Modi government’s policy on Pakistan “lacks clarity and consistency”.