News / India

Punjab airbase operation over, 7 killed, including two India soldiers

Saturday, 02 January 2016 4:08 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 02 January 2016 4:08 PM ]

An Indian air force helicopter flies over an airbase in Pathankot, Punjab State, during an operation to repel an attack by gunmen on the base, January 2, 2016. (AFP Photo)

India says its security forces have repelled an attack by gunmen on an airbase in the northern state of Punjab, ending an operation that led to the death of seven people.

Gunmen suspected to be from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed Takfiri militant group, and wearing army uniforms, infiltrated the Pathankot airbase in Punjab at about 3:30 a.m. local time (2200 GMT) on Saturday.

The security forces engaged afterward.

Seven people, including five attackers and two Indian soldiers, were killed.

“The operation is just over,” said Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, the deputy inspector general of police for Pathankot region.

Indian security personnel stand alert on a road leading to an airbase in Pathankot, northern state of Punjab, on January 2, 2016. (AFP Photo)

Lieutenant General Satish Dua of the Indian army also said, “They are from Jaish, Jaish has claimed responsibility.”

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.

“Pakistan remains committed to partner with India as well as other countries in the region to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said in a message posted on Twitter.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad Takfiri group is one of more than a dozen similar groups operating in Kashmir for either independence from India or a union with Pakistan.

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