Security forces’ toll is 7 dead
Security forces’ toll is 7 dead
Security forces received a fresh jolt on Sunday when they discovered the presence of at least two more terrorists who fired at them during combing operations at the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot. Four terrorists had been killed on Saturday. Meanwhile, militants tried to storm the Indian consulate in the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
News agency reports quoting defence sources late Sunday night said one of at least two terrorists who had survived Saturday’s fighting had been killed on Sunday and one had been injured. Fighting was still on in an operation by security forces that has lasted two days with explosions and gunfire continuing well into Sunday night. The security forces said they were confident of neutralising the remaining terrorists.
In Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, explosions and gunfire rang out late Sunday as militants tried to storm the Indian diplomatic mission in the Afghan city, officials said. “We are being attacked. Fighting is going on,” an Indian consulate official told AFP by telephone from inside the compound. The official, who was hunkered down in a secure area within the complex, said all consulate officials were safe and accounted for. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kabul and his diplomatic outreach to Pakistan. A local police spokesman said security officials had cordoned off the area where sporadic gunshots were ringing out after a series of explosions. External affairs ministry Vikas Swarup told AFP that no Indian casualties had been reported so far.
In Pathankot, Punjab, a National Security Guard officer, Lt. Col. Niranjan E.K., was killed on Sunday morning by an explosive which he was reportedly trying to defuse in what has officially been described as an “accident”. Four other NSG personnel sustained injuries in this incident. In all, five Defence Security Corps personnel and one IAF “Garud” commando were killed in Saturday’s encounter with the Pakistani terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase, which is close to the border with Pakistan. With the death of the NSG officer on Sunday, the death toll of Indian defence personnel now stands at seven.
Lt. Col. Niranjan of the NSG’s bomb disposal squad was killed while he was apparently trying to retrieve a live grenade from the body of a dead terrorist at the scene of the terror attack as part of the combing operations. Authorities also indicated that one of the DSC personnel who made the supreme sacrifice had killed a militant in daring hand-to-hand combat at the airbase on Saturday before falling victim to the bullets of the militants. The total number of defence personnel (DSC, NSG and IAF) injured in the encounter so far stands at 20.
Asked which terror group could be behind the attack, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said as per initial information it was Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) but it would be confirmed only after the operation was over.
The IAF “Garud” commando killed in the encounter with terrorists on Saturday was identified as Corporal Gurusewak Singh while the five Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel also slain in the attack are Phoolwant Singh, Fateh Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Jagdish Chand and Mohit Chand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night held a meeting with top officials to discuss the Pathankot terror attack. Soon after returning from his two-day visit to Karnataka, Mr Modi chaired a meeting of top officials, including national security adviser Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S. Jaishankar.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government on Sunday announced deployment of a commando battalion and a special SWAT team in Pathankot as a “second line of defence” and also sought deployment of more BSF troops along the state’s border with Pakistan.
On Sunday, a fresh exchange of fire between two terrorists and security forces broke out at the airbase, hours after the grenade blast killed the NSG commando trying to defuse it as part of a night-long combing operation.
The two terrorists who had holed up overnight fired at security forces on Sunday from two different locations.
While an IAF Garud commando and two DSC personnel were killed in the gun battle on Saturday, three more DSC personnel succumbed to injuries in the hospital at Pathankot during the night.
“We are sure that still there are at least two more terrorists as firing has come from two different places. But we are not sure whether there are some more. We will come to know the number of terrorists only after the completion of the operation and body count,” home secretary Mehrishi told reporters in the national capital.
Air Commodore J.S. Dhamoon, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Pathankot, was quoted by news agencies, as saying, “The operations are at a mature stage. Operations will continue till the airbase is cleared of any intruder or terrorist.” There was heavy but brief exchange of fire at the area of operation where additional reinforcements rushed as five companies, comprising nearly 500 personnel, were deployed by the Army, according to reports. The firing was still continuing, police officials said. The fresh exchange of fire on Sunday and the grenade blast occurred as the joint combing operation by the armed forces, police and security personnel was still underway and the National Investigation Agency had taken over the probe.
The NIA, mandated to probe terror cases, will register a case on Monday to probe the conspiracy by a Pakistan-based terrorist group — believed to be Jaish-e-Mohammed — behind the strike. The NIA probe mandate will include the entry of the militants into India, the killing of taxi driver Ikagar Singh, the kidnapping of a superintendent of the Punjab police who was later released, and how the terrorists entered the IAF campus, sources said.
Sources said the investigators will also try and ascertain the conspiracy that was hatched on Pakistani soil by the terrorists and, if possible, find out the state and non-state actors in that country.
According to reports, Union home minister Rajnath Singh had originally tweeted on Saturday saying the operation had been completed with the killing of five terrorists but later deleted his tweet after it became clear that only four terrorists had been killed Saturday.
Meanwhile, defence minister Manohar Parrikar briefed PM Modi at a HAL function in Tumakuru in Karnataka.
According to news agency reports from Pathankot, Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said the state government was writing to the Union government to say that BSF deployment be increased on par with the neighbouring state of J&K.
“We have to act as a second line of defence. Immediately we will have new police lines established in Pathankot, one commando battalion will also be set up here so that there is quick response (in the wake of major attacks),” Mr Sukhbir Badal said.
