New Delhi: A group of suspected terrorists attacked a key Indian air force base near the border with Pakistan early Saturday with at least two of the militants killed, security officials said, in the most serious attack of its kind in recent years.
At least four gunmen suspected to be from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group dressed in army uniforms infiltrated the Pathankot air base in the northern state of Punjab at around 3.30am (2am UAE), security officials said.
It comes one week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan, the first by an Indian premier in 11 years, with Saturday’s attack threatening to derail a nascent peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.
H.S. Dhillon, Additional Director General of Police, Punjab, said the operation at the base was still ongoing at 8.15am UAE time.
“We are searching the area. Two of the attackers were killed in the initial exchange of gunfire but we can’t confirm if more have been killed,” he said, in response to reports that four gunmen had been killed.
“Five to six security personnel were injured and they have been evacuated to hospital.”
Local television stations showed images of helicopters surveying the area, while elite National Security Guard commandos have been flown in to flush out the attackers.
A top security official who was at the scene and asked not to be named said that security forces had so far prevented the attackers from inflicting major damage at the base, which houses several fighter jets.
“They are heavily armed and the attack is aimed to cause maximum damage to the equipment at the station but we have been successful so far,” he said.
“We believe they are Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists.”
Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is banned in Pakistan, fights against Indian rule in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, where a separatist conflict has claimed up to 100,000 lives.
India blamed the group for a December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that killed 11 people and which led to a massive military build-up at the border and almost brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Top security officials including India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held a meeting in New Delhi in the aftermath of Saturday’s attack, media reports said.
Authorities had put the state on high alert on Friday after five gunmen in army fatigues hijacked a car driven by a senior police officer, which was later found abandoned on the Pathankot-Jammu highway.
The important road link connects the restive neighbouring region of Kashmir with India’s plains.
It was not yet clear if there was any link with Saturday’s attack.
In July, three gunmen dressed in army uniforms opened fire on a bus and then attacked a police station in the nearby Gurdaspur district of Punjab, killing seven people including four policemen.
India blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants for that attack.
