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PATHANKOT TERROR ATTACK
Reacting to the attacks in Pathankot, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Pakistan is our neighbour and we want peace, but any terrorist attack on India will get a befitting response. AS security officials continue to sanitise Pathankot Air Force base after suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists launched an attack, a senior security official has said that the terrorists had infiltrated India three days ago.
Indian intelligence traced four phone calls between the terrorists in Pathankot and Pakistan handlers between 12:35 am to 1:40 am
The terror attack, on since 3.30 am, has claimed the lives of three soldiers. Four terrorists have died. It is not known how many were involved in the attack. The attack is suspected to have been carried out by the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. Reports reveal that the attackers were from Bhawalpur in Pakistan and were ordered to blow up the helicopters stationed at the base. Pathankot air base,the terrorists were engaging the forces in gun-battle have apparently sneaked out, army sources have revealed.
Today’s terrorist attack on an Indian Air Force base in Punjab’s Pathankot, where two IAF personnel and four attackers were killed, has striking similarities to the July assault in Gurdaspur district.The Pathankot attack comes six months after another terror strike where suspected Pakistani terrorists had sprayed bullets on a moving bus and stormed Dinanagar police station in Gurdaspur district bordering Pakistan, killing six people and injuring eight.
Both the attacks came weeks after meetings between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers and an upswing in the relations between the two countries. The Pathankot attack came close on the heels of an upswing in India-Pakistan ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise trip to Lahore last month and held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
Congress was quick to react and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take up the issue with his Pakistan counterpart.
“It is a matter of serious concern. Will the PM take up the issue with Pakistan now that he has recently visited Pakistan?” asked Congress leader RS Surjewala. “How does the government propose to control and check terror coming from Pakistan? These are a few issues that Prime Minister Modi needs to address,” he added.
The Congress leaders also pointed out that terrorist exported from Pakistan were behind the attack in Pathankot.
“First in Udhampur, then in Dinanagar in Gurudaspur and now in Pathankot. These terrorists wore army fatigues, they kidnapped vehicles and they consequently attack army or other sensitive installations,” he said.
Surjewala also said that now that in the winter season the infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir is not possible, the peaceful Punjab was being targeted by the terrorists.
A team of National Investigation Agency, mandated to probe terror cases, reached Pathankot IAF base to gather inputs about the attack carried out by suspected militants of Jaish-e-Mohammed group. The NIA team reached the spot as the home ministry has asked the central probe agency to keep a full investigation team in readiness as the case could be transferred to it, official sources said.