Revealed: How six Pakistani terrorists attacked Pathankot Air Force base

New Delhi: Experts from the military have reconstructed how the six Pakistani terrorists, who attacked the Pathankot Air Force base earlier this month, divided the task among themselves.

As per their findings, reports NDTV, two of the terrorists were given the task to act as "guides" for the rest.

The report, which has been submitted to the government, said the pair of attackers' job was to lead the larger group to the technical area where fighter jets and helicopters were parked.

 

The duo were not armed with machine guns, but had Improvised Explosive Devices, incendiary gels, and ammonium nitrate.

They aimed at destroying as many high-value military assets as possible.

The “guides” had arrived at the airbase on January 1. It is not yet known how they breached the security of the base.

The other four terrorists entered the airbase early on the morning of January 2 by scaling a 10-foot high wall topped with barbed wire. They were detected by thermal devices on surveillance aircraft on January 3, said NDTV.

Notably, it was the group of four terrorists that was killed first by security forces on January 2.

By January 3, the pair of terrorists had taken shelter on the ground floor of a residential building, reported NDTV, adding at least five Air Force officers had locked themselves into rooms on the first floor, who were later evacuated by National Security Guard commandos.

On NSG's Lt Col Niranjan, who was killed while trying to defuse a grenade, the channel quoted a senior official as saying: "The bomb suit weighs about 60 kg, the terrain was undulating and covered by elephant grass, it was not possible to wear the suit, Lieutenant Colonel Niranjan didn't violate any procedure. He was an expert."

 

Six suspected Pakistani terrorists had attacked the Pathankot airbase in Punjab, leaving seven security personnel dead, after infiltrating the border belt in the Gurdaspur-Pathankot sector.