Home secy confirms JeM behind attacks | 4 militants killed | More than 2 maybe still in airbase | NSG officer among seven security personnel killed | 8 IAF men and 12 NSG commandos injured
A fresh assault by a couple of holed-up terrorists at the Pathankot air base on Sunday, after an official declaration on Saturday evening that the anti-terror operation was over, rattled the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government that had recently made overtures to Pakistan for restarting the dialogue process to usher in better relations.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh virtually jumped the gun on Saturday evening by declaring the operation over. "I congratulate our armed forces and other security forces on successfully neutralising all the five terrorists," he tweeted. Later, he retracted the tweet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Manohar Parrikar and finance minister Arun Jaitley too tweeted on similar lines.
However, the Pathankot air base suddenly became active on Sunday afternoon, soon after a National Security Guard (NSG) Lt Col was reportedly killed in an explosion while sanitising and securing the area.
Intermittent gunshots from two locations inside the airbase were also heard.
In New Delhi, on Sunday evening, Union home secretary Rajeev Mehrishi was at pains to explain the reasons for the government flip-flop, but confirmed that the terrorists were from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit.
Trying to cover up the goof-up, Mehrishi said: "By yesterday (Saturday) evening, four of the terrorists had been neutralised. There was no further firing and it was not certain whether there are other terrorists or not. But in the morning today, two more terrorists were discovered and are being engaged."
In an attempt to save the government from embarrassment, Mehrishi commended the operation as successful.
"Due to active intelligence inputs and advance info, security forces, especially air force, were able to protect air force assets," he said.
On being asked whether, given the specific prior intelligence alert, the attack was a major lapse, Mehrishi said that he did not consider it as a lapse and some injuries are bound to occur in such circumstances.
He informed that seven security personnel, including 5 defence services corps (DSC), one Garuda (air force) commando and one Lt Col of NSG, have been martyred in the operation. Besides eight Indian Air Force personnel and 12 NSG commandos have been injured.
Not to commit the same mistake again, he did not clarify if there were more than two terrorists holed up at the airbase.
"We will let you know the exact details once the operation is over. The operation is at a mature stage," he added.
Air Marshal Anil Khosla said there could be more than two terrorists present and the mopping-up may continue till Monday.
Even if it looks that the holed-up terrorists are dead, the security forces, operating under NSG command, will keep the area completely cordoned off and would begin mopping-up operation on Tuesday morning to ensure that no collateral damage takes place, a senior NSG officer said.
Sources in the intelligence agencies were of the view that an attack on such a scale and directed towards a high-value target like an airbase could not have been planned without the aid and support of elements from the Pakistan Army and the ISI.
It appears that the terrorists were given high-intensity guerrilla training and specific tasks to inflict maximum damage to the airbase. The brief given to them did not include low-value targets like civilians and police personnel, said sources.
Intel alert was sent on Dec 30
Documents accessed by dna show that on December 30, security agencies based in Jammu and Kashmir, had sent out information about a group of 15-18 'specially trained fighters' crossing over from Pakistan to carry out attacks on vital installations.
"According to an input, Lashkar-e-Toiba/Jamaat-ud-Dawa organised a group of approximate 15-18 specially trained fighters to carry out attack in India during New Year celebrations. The group has reportedly left from Pakistan and could already be in India. Their intention may be to carry out 2008 Mumbai-type attacks. Possible targets include vital installations and important locations. In view of the above, it is requested that all necessary preventive and security measures may be taken to avoid any untoward incident. Matter most urgent".
According to sources, the input was received by DG Jammu and Kashmir police, who dispatched the same to the entire police department. The information was further shared with Punjab police. p9
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