A fifth gunman was killed on Monday (January 4) as Indian security forces battled for the third day to clear out militants who attacked one of its air bases and killed seven soldiers. Twenty-two were wounded.
The attack on the base in northern Pathankot city, which started before dawn on Saturday (January 2), is a rare targeting of an Indian military installation outside of the disputed Kashmir region.
Major General Dushyant Singh from National Security Guard (NSG) said search operations would continue until all areas at the Air Force base were completely secured.
“I would like to inform all of you that the operations are still going on. We have been able to eliminate the fifth terrorist. Combing and search operations continue,” said Singh at a briefing in Pathankot.
With the attack, a rapprochement effort between India and Pakistan appeared to be in jeopardy on Monday as the gunfire could still be heard at the base on the third day of operations. It was unclear how many militants remained at large, if any.
The foreign secretaries of the nuclear-armed neighbors are due to meet for talks on January 15, building on a thaw in relations after a surprise visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif last month.
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley praised security forces for acting swiftly as the militants aimed to damage the strategic assets at the air base.
“The main mission of security forces was to protect the strategic assets at the air base. The security forces successfully protected them and I thank them,” said Jaitley in New Delhi.
Thousands of police were scanning hotels, markets and forested areas in the city of Pathankot around the base, to ensure no more militants were hiding.
The military was working at a very fast pace to defuse live hand grenades and gather the remains of the dead militants as the air base is large.
Pakistan has condemned the attack and said it wanted to build on the goodwill created by the impromptu meeting between Modi and Sharif last month.