1 of the 2 holed up terrorists at Pathankot airbase killed, firing continues

Pathankot(Punjab), Jan 3 (PTI): Explosions and firing continued intermittently tonight as security forces killed one of the at least two terrorists holed up at Pathankot air base on the second day of the attack in which military casualties including a Lieutenant Colonel of the NSG mounted to seven.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting tonight with top officials including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar in Delhi even as questions were raised by defence experts over the way the encounter with heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists was handled by security agencies.

Defence sources in Delhi said tonight that one terrorist was killed today while another was injured in the encounter that was on for nearly 43 hours, a day after four terrorists were eliminated after they struck yesterday.

"The operation is still continuing and engagement with the terrorists is still going on, Air Commodore JS Dhamoon," Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Pathankot told a late evening news conference.

"The operation will continue till the whole of air base is cleared of intruders and any terrorists," he said.

Dhamoon said four terrorists have been killed and seven security men--one Garud commando, one NSG officer and five personnel of Defence Security Corps(DSC) have been martyred in the operation. Seventeen security personnel were also injured.

Throughout the day, attack helicopters kept flying over the air force station to provide aerial support to the ground troops battling the terrorists who fired intermittently with the last round of exchanges erupting at around 9.30pm.

According to reports, the holed up militants were discovered in the forested area on the backside of the air base from where they are reported to have entered.

Lt Col Niranjan, a member of the NSG's Bomb Disposal Squad and a Kerala resident, died after he succumbed to injuries which he sustained while he was 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 that continued through last night. Four other security men were also injured in this explosion.

Three Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel also succumbed to injuries at the hospital here during the intervening night of January 2 and 3. A Garud commando and two members of the DSC were killed in the gunbattle yesterday at the air base, located barely 35 km from the Indo-Pak border.

"We are sure that still there are at least two more terrorists as firing have 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," Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told a press conference in Delhi.

The comments by Mehrishi came a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted saying the operation had been completed with the killing of five terrorists. Singh later deleted his tweet.

During the day, five companies of army along with JCB bulldozers were sent to the area to speed up the operation against the terrorists.

Former Western Air Command Chief Air Marshal P S Ahulwalia said casualties could have been kept at minimum through "effective coordination" adding the time taken to neutralise the attackers is way "too long".

Earlier Report

NSG commando killed, toll of securitymen in terror attack 7

Pathankot (Punjab), Jan 3 (PTI): A fresh grenade blast ripped through the air force base here this morning claiming the life of an NSG commando, as three other security men succumbed to injuries in a hospital after yesterday's terror attack taking the toll of Indian security personnel to seven.

Lt Col Niranjan, a member of the NSG's Bomb Disposal Squad, was killed while he was defusing the grenade at the scene of the terror attack as part of the combing operations that continued through the night. Four other security men were also injured in the blast.

Defence sources said Niranjan, a resident of Kerala, was killed while trying to retrieve the grenade from the body of a dead terrorist.

Three members of the Defence Security Corps (DSC) succumbed to injuries in the hospital here during the night.

Four attackers, a Garud commando and three DSC were killed yesterday when heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists had attempted to storm the base, triggering a day-long gunbattle at the airbase, barely 35 kms from the Indo-Pak border.

Among those battling for their lives in the hospital are 8 DSC personnel and a Garud commando.

Meanwhile, the joint combing operation was still underway, a police official said, adding that the NIA had taken over the probe into the terror incident. Some senior officials of the Punjab Police led by DGP Suresh Arora are also present here.

Earlier Report

Gunshots, blast heard again inside Pathankot air base

Pathankot (Punjab), Jan 3 (IANS): Gunshots and a blast were heard from the Indian Air Force (IAF) frontier base near Pathankot town on Sunday morning leading to speculation that one more terrorist could still be holed up inside.

While four terrorists, who carried out a Fidayeen attack at the IAF base on Saturday, were killed by security agencies during a gunfight that lasted for 15-hours. There were confusing reports about the fifth terrorist being killed.

The gunshots and blast were heard on Sunday morning during search and combing operation inside the base, the IAF and Punjab Police sources told IANS.

The technical area, where the IAF's MIG-21 fighter jets, MI-35 attack helicopters and other critical assets were stationed, was secure, they said.

A thorough search and combing operation continued at the Indian Air Force (IAF) frontier base near Pathankot town on Sunday following Saturday's terror attack.

Security agencies, including the Army, National Security Guards (NSG), Indian Air Force, para-military forces and Punjab Police were involved in the massive search operation inside the IAF base and nearby areas.

IAF helicopters could be seen flying over the base and nearby areas through the night and since early Sunday to assist ground forces in the operations.

"The search ops are continuing. Everything is being looked at minutely. The operation will end only after this is completed," a senior Punjab Police official told IANS.

Security agencies were particularly investigating the local support that the terrorists got in the area after entering Indian territory from the border belt with Pakistan on December 30-31. The border is about 30 km from here.

At least four terrorists, suspected to be from Pakistan, were killed in a gunfight that lasted over 15 hours after they breached a high-security perimeter and entered the IAF base in northern Punjab early on Saturday to carry out a Fidayeen attack.

Uncertainty prevailed on the number of terrorists being killed in the attack on the Pathankot air base, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh withdrawing a tweet putting the number at five.

"I congratulate our armed forces and security forces on successfully neutralising all the five terrorists in 'Pathankot Operation'," Rajnath Singh had tweeted on Saturday evening.

The tweet was, however, withdrawn soon after. At the time of the initial tweet, the number of terrorists being killed was placed at four.