Yesterday, defense minister Manohar Parrikar admitted to “some gaps” in the wake of the terrorist attack at the Pathankot airbase, and voiced concern that the terrorists managed to enter the air base, even after the intelligence officials’ warnings.

However, a few of the sources said that, the main security “lapse” was that the government failed to hand over control of the Pathankot anti-terror operation to the Army and its special forces, based closer at Nahan in Himachal Pradesh. But chose to call in the NSG from New Delhi, which is not trained for a defensive role.

“The issue has to be probed, to know whether there was any connivance of border-guarding personnel of the BSF, as well as the role of the Punjab police as the terrorists may have used the drug smugglers’ route to enter Punjab,” the sources say.

A few sources from the government say that, the terrorists are planning to carry a huge operation like 26/11, with the intention of targeting 3,000 families” of defence personnel at the airbase, along with the IAF’s fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships for which the terrorists were carrying a staggering 40-50 kg of bullets, AK-47s, modified under-grenade barrel launchers, pistols, Swiss and commando knives. They also had three to four dozen magazines and mortars.

On the other side, Punjab denied the reports that, it had not acted on the inputs given by the abducted Gurdaspur SP.

Pakistan links in Pathankot attack!

Answering to the question whether Pakistan had any connection with the attack on Pathankot air base, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said, some of the equipment recovered from the terrorists had been made in Pakistan, and confirmed that all six terrorists who attacked the base had been neutralized.

Another top security source said, “The main security lapse was that the government failed to hand over charge of the situation to the Army and its special forces once the Intelligence inputs were received of a possible imminent attack in Pathankot.”

“Initially, the government only wanted deployment of two columns of the Army and flew the NSG personnel to Pathankot despite the fact that the NSG is not trained for defensive roles. The Army special forces stationed at Nahan could have been easily rushed in as they were much closer to Pathankot. The special forces have expertise in counter-insurgency operations.”

“Even the infantry units have experience and could have prevented the entry of terrorists into the airbase, had the situation been handed over to the Army. There were a multiplicity of the security agencies at the spot and this proved to be more of a hindrance,” he said.

It is known that, on 2nd January, a group of heavily armed terrorists, attacked Pathankot Air Force Station. In the initial battle, two terrorists and three security forces personnel were killed. The gun battle and the subsequent combing operation lasted about 17 hours on the same day. The terrorists, who were wearing Indian Army fatigues, were suspected to belong to Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist terrorist group.

By Phani Ch