Gunmen Attack An Indian Air Force Base Near Pakistan Border; Indian Forces Reportedly Kill All Five Attackers
All five attackers were reportedly killed by the Indian forces after the former assaulted an Indian air force base near Pakistan border Saturday. Reuters reported on the same day that the Indian forces and the militants exchanged fires for over 15 hours before the battle was declared over.
Reports have revealed that the five attackers disguised as soldiers when they attacked the Indian Air Force. The assault came days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in hopes to revitalize bilateral talks with Pakistan.
"We have seen the same pattern again and again when there are attempts to restart the peace dialogue," said Ajai Sahni, Institute for Conflict Management executive director.
"It may lead to a momentary pause in the ...dialogue and attacks from the (Indian parliamentary) opposition for not pursuing a harder line, but I don't think it will have a long-term impact."
Officials have revealed that the attackers entered Pathankot base where they opened fire. Prior to the assault, the militants allegedly hijacked a police official's car and used it to reach Pathankot base.
An analyst from the Society for Policy Studies said that "the probability that perpetrators are linked to one of the better known terror groups that have targeted India over the last decade is fairly high," as noted by Al Jazeera Saturday.
"There are couple of groups that come to mind such as Jaish-e-Mohammad or Lashkar-e-Taiba," Uday Bhaskar said. "I think the motive seems to disrupt the current traction as far as India-Pakistan bilateral relations is concerned."
Bhaskar went on, "We have had similar pattern in the past where those groups and constituencies that are against any improvement in bilateral relations play terror card. I see it as part of this pattern. How Pakistan would respond would be an indicator about the next course of events in bilateral ties."
The deadly assault killed not only the five attackers, but also two guards who were in the area.
