News / India

Unknown gunmen attack Indian air force base near Pakistan

Saturday, 02 January 2016 2:52 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 02 January 2016 2:52 AM ]

Indian army personnel take position during an encounter with armed attackers at the police station in Dinanagar town, in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab state, July 27, 2015. (AFP)

Unknown gunmen in army uniforms have launched an attack on an Indian air force base in the northern state of Punjab near the border with Pakistan.

Early on Saturday morning, the base in the Pathankot district of Punjab “came under attack from four to five terrorists. The gunfire is still going on," Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, the director general of police in Pathankot, said.

"Two of the attackers are believed to be dead in the gunfight while the rest are holding out inside one of the buildings in the base," he added.

The officer also noted that there had been no damage to fighter jets at the base and that security forces were still trying to identify the assailants. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the raid.

Media reports said the incident is apparently connected to the hijacking of a police car late on Thursday night. A senior Punjab police officer, his friend, and one of his junior colleagues were abducted by five men in army fatigues and beaten up before being released near Pathankot.

The Saturday attack comes about six months after Indian security forces fought a prolonged gunfight with militants who attacked a moving bus and stormed into a police station in the town of Dinanagar in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.

Indian police said at least four policemen and three civilians were killed in the deadly assault. The militants were also shot dead during the gun battle with security forces.

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