Pathankot attack: One more terrorist shot dead at airbase, combing still continues

Outfit based in Pak claims responsibility, doubts raised

A fifth suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad militant was neutralised by the security forces at the Pathankot airbase on Monday as combing operations to secure the IAF base entered its third day. Top government sources said the neutralised terrorist was one of two who were hiding in a two-storey building that was living quarters for personnel. The National Security Guard, Indian Air Force and Army officers said there was no collateral damage to strategic Air Force assets.

The Pakistan-based United Jehad Council (UJC), an umbrella organisation of around a dozen militant outfits, meanwhile claimed responsibility Monday for the deadly terror strike in Pathankot. “The attack on the Pathankot airbase was carried out by the National Highway Squad,” Syed Sadaqat Hussain, who presented himself as an UJC spokesman, claimed in an email statement to a Srinagar-based news agency. The UJC claimed the attack was done “to carry a message to India that no security establishment or garrison is out of the reach of Kashmiri mujahideen”.

Experts in Delhi, however, expressed grave doubts on the authenticity of the claim as the Pathankot attack is believed to be the handiwork of Pakistan-based JeM, a terror outfit which is not part of UJC. This claim is being seen as a diversionary tactic, a senior security official said. The confusion over the number of terrorists involved in the Pathankot attack continued Monday evening.

There is still no clarity on the exact number of terrorists involved in the attack, and whether the terrorist killed on Monday was the fifth or sixth one to be neutralised since Saturday, when the attack began. “Till now, we have eliminated five terrorists and an operation to eliminate one more terrorist, possibly, is in the final stage of conduct,” NSG inspector-general Maj. Gen. Dushant Singh told reporters Monday in Pathankot. Maj. Gen. Singh said: “The entire operation will continue till all personnel, assets, structure are physically combed.” The Border Security Force has also submitted a report to the Centre on the possible route taken by the attackers, claiming there was no breach in the fence but there were some gaping holes along the international border and malfunctioning of the electronic surveillance equipment. Senior BSF officials also visited Bamiyal, a village located near Pathankot, and took stock of the unfenced and riverine areas along the border with Pakistan.

The Punjab police on Monday arrested three youths from Mohali and seized arms and ammunition from them. The police said the youths were arrested on a tipoff near Sunny Enclave at Mohali, and did not rule out their having links with Pakistan-based terror elements. The police also seized Pakistani SIM cards, two AK-47 rifles and five pistols from their possession.

The government has ordered a security audit of all critical defence installations across India following the Pathankot attack. Top defence sources said the idea of the audit was to identify shortcomings in security and to plug them.

Speaking to reporters after a security review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NSA Ajit Doval and top officials, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the bodies of four terrorists had been recovered and those of the other two will also be recovered. The number of intruders had been put at six by officials in the past two days and the figures given by Mr Jaitley implied that all of them had been eliminated. However, no one in the government was prepared to say that no more terrorists were inside the base or that the operation was over. Combing and search operations were going on and the operation will continue till “we are able to fully render the base safe”, the NSG’s Maj. Gen. Dushant Singh said. Sources said the final count of terrorists involved in the attack would be clear only after completion of the operation, the final stages of which saw the building from which fire was being directed being blown up.

Mr Jaitley said the security forces were able to confine the terrorists to the place where they intruded and kept at a “reasonable distance” from where the assets were located. Asked about the identify of the terrorists, he said: “I think we are at a stage where operations (are) still on (and) therefore it is not proper for me to say anything more than that.” Mr Jaitley said combing operations take time as the base was a large complex with a 24-km circumference. “These were well-trained terrorists and part of suicide squad. When such kind of fidayeen attack takes place it has the potential to cause huge damage. The complex is very big,” he said. Asked why the operation stretched to a third day when specific intelligence was available, Mr Jaitley said: “Operations of such kind continue for a very long time. Even in Mumbai, if you remember, on 26/11 the operation continued for a very long time. There were six terrorists. They were able to inflict damage in terms of loss of lives and property.”

The NIA on Monday registered three cases to probe the entire conspiracy behind the strike at the Pathankot IAF base, believed to have been carried out by the Pakistan-based JeM. The cases were initially registered by local police stations in Pathankot that were transferred and handed over to the National Investigation Agency. SP Salwinder Singh, who was shunted out from Gurdaspur to take charge as assistant commandant of the 75th battalion of the Punjab Armed Police, is likely to be questioned on the terrorists who had hijacked his vehicle. Sources said two terrorists of the suspected group of six might have entered the Pathankot airbase before a Punjab Police SP was kidnapped by them and much before an alert was sounded on their presence in the area.

A total of five terrorists have been neutralised so far in the operation. while one Garud commando, one NSG officer and five personnel of the Defence Security Corps lost their lives while fighting the terrorists. Seventeen security personnel were also injured. Defence experts have, meanwhile, deprecated the “lack of coordination” in the handling of the Pathankot airbase attack, and questioned the multiplicity of agencies involved in the operation that continued for the third day on Monday.