In yet another attempt to derail India-Pakistan ties, a group of heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked the Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot on Saturday and engaged the security forces in a 15-hour long gun-battle. Five JeM terrorists and three security personnel were killed in the encounter.
The terrorists, who struck just a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unscheduled visit to Lahore to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, could not, however, penetrate the defence cordon at the IAF which is located close to the border with Pakistan as they met with effective response from the security forces, police and security..
The Pathankot IAF facility, located about 40 kms away from the border with Pakistan, is the base of MiG-21 fighter planes and Mi-25 attack helicopters of Air Force.
Talking about the attack, the IAF in a statement said, "The likely plan of the terrorists to destroy valuable assets of the Air Force has been foiled. Due to effective preparation and coordinated efforts by all security agencies, terrorists were detected by aerial surveillance platforms."
Two IAF attack helicopters were also used to assist the joint team of ground troops to neutralise the terrorists, the sources said.
Condemning the attack, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said India will hit back hard if there is any terror strike on its soil. "Pakistan is our neighbouring country. We want good relations with not just Pakistan but with all our neighbours. We also want peace but if there is any terror attack on India, we will give a befitting reply. We will hit hard."
The terrorists, with huge quantity of RDX in their possession, made their way to the base from the back side where there is a jungle, police said.
But they could not go beyond the 'langar' (eating place) near the outer perimeter of the IAF complex as the security forces were ready to take them on, the sources said, about the operation which was supervised directly by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Anticipating an attack after some armed men abducted an SP of Punjab Police on Thursday night, a team of NSG commandos had been rushed to Pathankot on Friday night itself after the NSA held a series of meetings with the Army Chief and top IB officials yesterday. An army detachment was also positioned at the Air base, the sources said.
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