New Delhi

As operations against two remaining terrorists at Pathankot air base continued for the second consecutive day, the Union government today said it was unsure if more militants were still holed up.

The comments by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi came a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted saying the operation had been completed with the killing of five terrorists. Singh later deleted his tweet.

“We are sure that still there are at least two more terrorists as firing have come from two different places. But we are not sure whether there are some more. We will come to know the number of terrorists only after the completion of the operation and body count,” Mehrishi told a press conference.

He said four terrorists were killed in the gun-fight yesterday while firing resumed this afternoon at two places in the air base.

Asked about the Home Minister’s tweet, Mehrishi said he was giving authentic information and “don’t not know what others are saying”.

He said a Superintendent of Police of Punjab, who was kidnapped along with two others on Friday and was left off later, had said that there were only four terrorists.

Asked whether there is any lapse while dealing with the terrorists as seven security personnel were killed so far despite having prior information about terrorists, Mehrishi denied there was any lapse.

“There was no lapse. Some casualties are obvious when there is an operation in this scale,” he said.

Mehrishi said so far there were seven casualties — six Indian Air Force personnel (including five Defence Security Corps(DSC) personnel and one Garuda commando), and one NSG officer, Lt. Colonel Niranjan. Eight IAF personnel and 12 NSG commandos were also injured so far.

The NSG officer was killed while trying to defuse a grenade attached with the body of a terrorist. Five NSG commandos were also injured in the incident.

Seven other NSG commandos were also injured in separate incidents in mopping up operation.

Asked when the operation against the terrorist would be over, Director General (Air Operations) of the IAF Air Marshal Anil Khosla said they were not sure about that as the action against the militants was still on.

“No way I can predict. But we are hopeful that it will come to an end this evening,” he said.

Asked why the terror attack could not be foiled despite deployment of a large number of NSG commandos, the Union Home Secretary said the team of the specialised force was waiting in Pathankot for the terrorists as the exact point of possible attack was not known.

“When they (terrorists) attacked the air base, the NSG team moved immediately,” he said.

Air Marshal Khosla said the main aim of the terrorists was defeated as they could not reach the technical area of the Pathnkot air base where high valued assets were kept.

“The first contact with the terrorists was made on Saturday morning at around 3.30 am. The terrorists were contained in an area where there is heavy growth and shrubs.

The operation is now at a matured stage,” he said.

The IAF officer said the operation was “slowed down” yesterday after the killing of four terrorists as security forces were not sure whether there were more terrorists still at large. The gun-fight resumed this afternoon when the terrorists began firing from two places.

Asked about the terror group which could be behind the attack, the Home Secretary said as per initial information it was Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) but it would be confirmed only after the operation is over.

Mehrishi said there were intelligence reports about infiltration attempts by JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba militants and based on these inputs, 40 terrorists were neutralised by security forces since August 2015.

He said after getting information about the terrorists, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called an emergency meeting on Friday, which was attended by Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag besides others, to take stock of the situation and necessary instructions were given to secure government offices and vital installations along the western border.

Alert was sounded in Punjab and all air stations in the area were put on high alert, he said.

The Home Secretary said AOC-in-C Western Air Command, Air Marshal S B Deo is in Pathankot and coordinating the operation, which is jointly being carried out by IAF, Army, NSG and Punjab Police.

He said the terrorists were located through aerial surveillance and then counter attack was launched.

Mehrishi said one grievously injured DSC personnel was airlifted to Chandigarh for further treatment.

At least 2 terrorists holed up at Pathankot airbase, Lt Col among seven dead mil personnel

Pathankot (Punjab)

At least two more terrorists were discovered at Pathankot air base here as security forces continued their operations for the second day with military casualties mounting to seven including a Lieutenant Colonel of the NSG who died today.

Lt Col Niranjan, a member of the NSG’s Bomb Disposal Squad and a Kerala resident, died after he succumbed to injuries which he sustained while he was trying to retrieve a live grenade from the body of a dead terrorist at the scene of the terror attack yesterday as part of the combing operations that continued through the night. Four other security men were also injured in the explosion.

Three Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel also succumbed to injuries in the hospital here during the intervening Dec 2/3 night. A Garud commando and two members of the DSC were killed in the gunbattle yesterday in which four Pakistan-based terrorists had also been eliminated during the gunbattle at the airbase, located barely 35 km from the Indo-Pak border.

“We are sure that still there are at least two more terrorists as firing have come from two different places. But we are not sure whether there are some more. We will come to know the number of terrorists only after the completion of the operation and body count,” Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told a press conference in Delhi.

The comments by Mehrishi came a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted saying the operation had been completed with the killing of five terrorists. Singh later deleted his tweet.

Mehrishi said four terrorists were killed in the gun-fight yesterday while firing resumed this afternoon at two places in the air base. he said all the assets of the IAF were safe.

“A fresh contact has been established and there was brief firing,” a senior Army official said in Pathankot.

Air Commodore JS Dhamoon, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Pathankot, said “The operations are at a mature stage. Operations will continue till the air base is cleared off any intruder or terrorist.”

“The operations are at a mature stage. Operations will continue till the air base is cleared off any intruder or terrorist,” he told reporters. “The operations are continuing”.

There was heavy but brief exchange of fire at the area of operation where additional reinforcements rushed as five companies, comprising nearly 500 personnel, were deployed by the army. The firing was still continuing, police officials said.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the latest situation at the Pathankot air base. Both were present at a HAL function in Tumakuru in Karnataka.

The fresh exchange of fire in the afternoon and the grenade blast occured as the joint combing operation by the armed forces, police and security personnel was still underway and the NIA had taken over the probe into the terror attack.

PTI