Two IAF men killed as gunmen storm Indian air force base, Pakistan condemns attack

[HAIDER]

PATHANKOT: An operation to secure a militant-hit Indian air base near the Pakistan border ended on Saturday with at least four suspected gunmen killed, police said, after an assault that threatens to undermine the two countries' fragile peace process.

At least four gunmen alleged to be from Jaish-i-Mohammed group dressed in army uniforms infiltrated the Pathankot air base in northern Punjab state at around 3:30 am.

Officials did not confirm the state broadcaster's reports that three security personnel had died at the base — a rare targeting of an Indian military installation outside disputed Kashmir.

Special commandos secured the Pathankot air force base 14 hours after it was infiltrated by gunmen wearing Indian army uniforms, officials said.

“We have recovered four dead bodies and are searching for more. Our men are sanitising the area,” H. S. Dhillon, a senior police chief for the Punjab region told AFP.

An army official confirmed the operation had ended and forces were checking the area for residual explosives.

Pathankot in India's Punjab province is close to the border with Pakistan.—Google maps

Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted his congratulations to the army on “successfully neutralising” the terrorists.

“We want peace but if terrorists carry out attacks on Indian soil we will give them a befitting reply,” he said earlier in the day.

Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, director general of police in Pathankot district, told AFP that the attack began around 3.30am and that there were four to five attackers.

He said the operation to eliminate the gunmen had lasted three hours. The airbase was being combed to determine the fate of the remaining attackers.

Singh added that there had been no damage to fighter planes at the base and that security forces were still trying to identify the attackers.

 

[ThaniOruvan]

Seriously ?

 

[tarrar]

The locals living in the area busted Indian pre planned attack by saying what they saw Indian army doing with the security hours before the attack & how they were forced to close their shops.