At least two security personnel were wounded in a fresh blast inside India’s embattled Pathankot air base near the Pakistan border where four gunmen and three security personnel were killed in a shootout on Saturday — an attack which is being seen as an apparent challenge to attempts to revive a dialogue between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
“Two security personnel were wounded in a blast on Sunday,” a police official in Pathankot said, as troops scoured the base. Dozens of armed forces stood guard outside the base. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said on Saturday five militants had been “neutralised”, but there were no reports yet of the body of the fifth attacker being found.
In New Delhi, two trains were delayed early on Sunday after officials received information about a possible bomb threat on a train running between the capital and Lucknow to the southeast, railways spokesperson Neeraj Sharma said. Trains were deemed safe and were running on schedule by mid-morning, Sharma said.
The sound of a blast was heard around 9am followed by armoured vehicles and commandos rushing towards the area and security forces resuming their combing operation in an around the base, The Hindu reported.
The death toll from militant assault has grown to at least 10 as six Indian security personnel have been killed while bodies of four militants have been recovered after the assault.
The news of the fresh blast comes a day after gunmen, wearing army fatigues, managed to enter the air base in the northwestern state of Punjab around 3.30am. Once inside, they opened fire indiscriminately. They had earlier hijacked the car of the superintendent of police on the Jammu-Pathankot highway and had killed one person while throwing the other occupants out. They drove the car to the heavily guarded base.
Sporadic gunfire continued into the day and helicopters flew as an operation continued to comb the base in search of any more gunmen. TV footage showed armed guards outside the base, which is located 50 kilometres from the border with Pakistan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But security officials said the gunmen, believed to be from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group, entered India from Bahawalpur district in south Punjab and communicated with their handlers twice after crossing over.
The raid resembled an assault last July by gunmen in uniform on a police post in a Punjabi border town that killed nine people. However, Saturday’s pre-dawn attack was much more audacious in targeting a large military facility, from which India’s Russian-made fleet of MiG-21 fighter jets and Mi-35 attack helicopters fly.
Soon after the Saturday’s attack, Foreign Office issued a statement, condemning the terror incident in the neighbouring country. “We extend heartfelt condolences to the government and people of India and the bereaved families and wish the wounded a speedy and full recovery,” it said.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since independence and partition in 1947. The Muslim-majority region remains a bone of contention that India only recently agreed to discuss after months of on-off attempts to relaunch talks.
