With the fifth terrorist killed by Indian security forces on Monday afternoon, the Pathankot air force base operation is in its mature stage, according to security forces. This is the third day of the operations which have so far claimed seven lives of Indian armed forces.
“The entire operation will continue till all the personnel, assets, structure are physically combed. So it is likely to take a long time,” said Inspector General NSG Maj General Dushant Singh.
According to NDTV, there were no firing or explosions heard after 2 pm and all air force assets were reported to be safe.
The NSG was on a mission to eliminate the remaining terrorists in the facility who were cornered in a two-storey building which was the living accommodation of air force personnel on Monday morning.
Previously, it was reported that four terrorists were killed in the operations till Sunday.
According to Mohali police, the weapons recovered from the terrorists were manufactured in Pakistan and China.
The terrorists are believed to be Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives who have crossed over to India from Pakistan from the nearby border and stormed their way into the base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2 dressed as Indian soldiers.
However, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) based militant body United Jihad Council (UJC)’s Highway squad have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Just prior to the attacks, SP Salwinder Singh and his cook Madan Gopal alerted local police about ‘terrorists’ abducting them, but The Hindu reported that their claims were not taken into account.
On Saturday itself, the Home Ministry had issued a statement claiming the operations to be a ‘success’.
So far there have been no evidences of infiltration according to BSF which have carried out along with Punjab and Jammu border.
The attack comes after a week after PM Modi went on a courtesy trip to Lahore for after his visit to Afghanistan. Modi became the first Indian PM to set foot on Pakistani soil for the first time in more than a decade.