Indian troops search air force base after battles

AFP, PATHANKOT, India: Indian troops backed by helicopters searched an air force base Monday after a weekend of fierce fighting with suspected Islamic insurgents in which seven soldiers died.
A senior security officer said Monday evening a fifth attacker had been killed, in addition to four gunmen killed earlier at the Pathankot base in the northern state of Punjab near the border with Pakistan.
“We have been able to eliminate the fifth terrorist. The combing and search operations still continue,” the officer from the National Security Guard (NSG), a special forces unit, told journalists on condition of anonymity. He did not say what day the fifth attacker died.
The base was hit in a dawn raid Saturday that triggered a 14-hour gunbattle and there was more firing Sunday.
It was not clear Monday whether any surviving attackers remained inside the base but troops were still searching. Security officials said they were focusing on a two-storey building that contained living quarters for families on the base where the militants had previously holed up.

Indian troops search air force base after battles

AFP, PATHANKOT, India: Indian troops backed by helicopters searched an air force base Monday after a weekend of fierce fighting with suspected Islamic insurgents in which seven soldiers died. A senior security officer said Monday evening a fifth attacker had been killed, in addition to four gunmen killed earlier at the Pathankot base in the northern state of Punjab near the border with Pakistan. We have been able to eliminate the fifth terrorist. The combing and search operations still continue, the officer from the National Security Guard (NSG), a special forces unit, told journalists on condition of anonymity. He did not say what day the fifth attacker died. The base was hit in a dawn raid Saturday that triggered a 14-hour gunbattle and there was more firing Sunday. It was not clear Monday whether any surviving attackers remained inside the base but troops were still searching. Security officials said they were focusing on a two-storey building that contained living quarters for families on the base where the militants had previously holed up.