Intermittent blasts and exchange of fire to neutralise two more terrorists continued on Sunday night at Air Force Station in Pathankot, Punjab where four terrorists were killed, seven security men lost their lives and 17 persons were injured in the over 40-hour-long operation.
In another round of provocative remarks, Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed has warned India of more terror attacks.
At least 28 people died in rain-related incidents Sunday as heavy downpours lashed north and northwest India, causing landslides, traffic chaos and house collapses, as well as a dam breach which inundated several villages in Haryana.
Experts in Delhi expressed doubt over the authenticity of the claim as the Pathankot attack is widely believed to be the handiwork of Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit which is not part of UJC.
Army has also been alerted and there is a heightened vigil, police said.
Security was strengthened in Pathankot and Gurdaspur especially Batala town with police along with army and Border Security Forces conducting massive checking operation.
As many as 29 explosions were recorded after the last terrorist was neutralised, giving an impression of continuing pitched battles!
The terrorists launched an attack on the Indian Air Force base in Punjab's Pathankot.
'The Modi government can't ignore the political symbolism that the perceived perpetrators are being allowed inside an Indian military base which was attacked by their puppets, either by tacit approval or compliance of the Pakistani military establishment,' says Rajeev Sharma.
This is the kind of film to watch with friends and maybe a six-pack. It has some risqu bits but nothing so vulgar that the pause button would need to be hit if Mummyji walks into the room, notes Deepa Gahlot.
A suspected intruder was shot dead early Thursday by the Border Security Force along the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot where the force is on high alert following the January 2 terror attack on air force base.
India has conveyed to Pakistan the need for early and "visible progress" in the Pathankot airbase terror attack probe in that country, Rajya Sabha was told on Wednesday.
Parrikar refused to share further details about the attack, saying the NIA is already investigating the matter.
Terrorists are hiding in villages close to the "vulnerable" Pathankot airbase, which can come under fresh attack from them, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs said on Tuesday.
The Pakistani team investigating the Pathankot terror attack will complete its probe this week, a top official said on Monday, days after three suspects in the high-profile case were remanded to police custody.
'Even, amidst the ongoing pandemic, terrorism continues to pose a critical threat to international peace and security'
In view of the threat perception, the Delhi Police is on the highest level of alert to secure the national capital.
Pathankot Senior Superintendent of Police R K Bakshi said that sleuths found that the bag contained uniform, shoes and other articles of an Army jawan who had left it behind.
The Quad also vowed to work towards a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific, a region that has seen increasing Chinese military muscle-flexing in the last few years.
The operation to fully sanitise the Pathankot base, which was attacked by six terrorists last Saturday, is in its final phase.
According to sources, the NIA is trying to collect more information like Jaish-e-Mohammad as a terrorist organisation and its role in the attack.
The move comes barely a few days before the Special Investigation Team of Pakistan visits here to ascertain the facts of the case and investigation carried out by the NIA.
The government on Tuesday announced that only four terrorists had entered the Pathankot Air Force station to carry out the strike that left eight people dead. This is contrary to a statement made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on March 4 when he had said that charred remains, apart from four bodies of terrorists, were found at the debris after security forces searched the Pathankot airforce station when the operation ended.
Delhi sweltered under intense heat as the Safdarjung observatory, considered the official marker of the national capital, noted a high of 43.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above the normal average.
Air Commodore J S Dhamoon, who was commanding the Pathankot air force base when it was attacked by heavily armed terrorists last year, has taken pre-mature retirement from service.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the strategic Pathankot Air Force base for a first-hand assessment of the situation in the aftermath of the terror attack last Saturday.
Senior Punjab Police officer Salwinder Singh, who was being probed by the NIA in connection with Pathankot terror strike, was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency after the scientific tests including the lie-detector test found nothing adverse against him, according to official sources.
Pakistan was "cooperating closely" with India on the investigations in a terror attack case on a key air force base in Pathankot earlier this year, the country's top diplomat has said.
Since combing operations in the forest near the base have not helped the security forces to find any vehicle used by the second team of terrorists, it is assumed that a local Jaish-e-Mohammed unit must have dropped them close to the base.
Given the magnitude of the operation of the air base, the operation will continue to be concluded till we are able to fully render the base safe.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered formation of a high-profile joint investigation team to investigate the links of the Pathankot air base attackers with Pakistan, a media report said on Monday.
India is yet to receive a formal communication from Pakistan about a proposed visit by a team of investigators from that country to inspect the site of the Pathankot terror attack, a senior government official said today.
'The Pakistani JIT's visit is the first ever experiment by the two South Asian neighbours to probe a terror attack 'jointly.' Well, it is not unlike the scenario wherein the thief himself is made an investigator,' says Rajeev Sharma.
A day after its return from India, the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team probing the Pathankot attack claimed that Indian authorities "failed" to provide evidence
'Inept handling by the National Security Advisor transformed what should have been a short counter-terrorist operation in Pathankot into an apparent debacle.'
The fresh Red Corner notice was issued after the National Investigation Agency secured an 'open-ended' non-bailable warrant against Azhar and Rauf for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror strike on the strategic Indian Air Force base at Pathankot on the intervening night of January 1 and 2.
Subedar Fateh Singh, a 51-year-old Army man who lost his life during combing operations at the Indian Air Force base near Punjab's Pathankot town on Saturday, had won a gold and a silver medal at the first Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in Delhi in 1995.
'In this Spy versus Soldier game,' says Rajeev Sharma, 'the two sides will size up each other like never before.'
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
Security forces tightened their cordon around a forest area in the higher reaches of Doda district on Tuesday evening following an encounter with hiding terrorists, officials said.
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