Militants attack Indian air base, two remain on site

Indian security forces have killed five militants so far in the attack, said Major General Dushyant Singh, of India’s counter-terrorism force, the National Security Guard.

Official sources while giving this information today said two gunmen from the group of six Pakistani terrorists might have entered Pathankot air base in Punjab before a state Police SP was kidnapped by them and much before an alert was sounded about their presence in the area.

An Indian police officer carries a pistol in one hand and a document folder on the other during a search operation at a residential area near the Indian air force base in Pathankot, India, Monday, Jan.4, 2016.

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif has called up PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday following the Pathankot terror attack in the Indian Air Force base.

The rebels’ attack on Indian Air Base in Pathan Kot is casting shadows on the chances of foreign secretaries’ meeting as according to the Indian media, prime minister Narindra Modi is mulling over postponing the meeting.

The United Jihad Council (UJC) said in a statement that the attack was a message to India that Kashmiri fighters could strike at any sensitive installation across India. At least one attacker remains and operations to comb and secure the base continue.

The number of troops killed in the attack rose to seven after four soldiers succumbed to their injuries overnight and another died after being wounded in an explosion, officials said. Some Indian security officials suggested the Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed was to blame.

“As highlighted earlier, because of the magnitude of the air base, the operation will continue till we are able to fully render it safe”, he added.

Gunmen wearing Indian army uniforms stormed the airbase in India’s Punjab province near the country’s border with Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least seven soldiers in gun battles over the next three days.

The process of resumption of talks was set in motion after a meeting between Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in Paris on November 30 on the sidelines of Climate Change Conference.

“We condemn this attack…At this juncture this attack might have been launched intentionally to disrupt this momentum (in Indo-Pak ties)”. The Pathankot airbase has been under attack by militants since the early hours of Saturday morning.