Fifth terrorist killed, says NSG

Pathankot, The confusion over the number of terrorists involved in the attack on the Pathankot air base continued on Monday evening, with the authorities announcing that “five terrorists have been killed”, while making no mention of the sixth they had been talking of all day.
A press briefing was held in the evening in which the Inspector General, NSG, Major General Dushyant Singh, said five terrorists had been killed in all, including one today. He added a combing operation was on at the base to sanitise the area.
Sound of intermittent firing could be heard at the air base.
A few hours earlier, there were reports that “all six” had been killed, with the last one blowing himself up, though that was not ‘official’.
The two were said to have been hiding in a two-storey residential building meant for Air Force personnel.
Addressing the media in the morning, Inspector General, NSG, Major General Dushyant Singh had said the operation was still on and the air base was yet to be declared safe.
Gunshots were heard in the area in the morning as multiple security agencies undertook a combing operation on the base.
At one point, the building was bombed by the security forces targeting the terrorists. The blast was followed by the sound of gunfire.
Earlier in the day, a press conference at Pathankot was addressed by Army, NSG and Air Force officials, who said the operation would continue till the combing of the entire area was over. They said four terrorists had been killed yesterday, and two more were holed up on the air base, which is spread over a large area and is like a “mini city”.
The officials said all families of military personnel, besides Air Force assets such as aircraft, were safe.

Inspector General, NSG, Maj-General Dushyant Singh, flanked by Air Officer Commanding, Air commodore J S Damoon and Brigadier Anupinder Singh, had said in the morning: “The entire operation will continue till all the personnel, assets, structure are physically combed. So it is likely to take a long time.”
He said that the terrorists had come “well prepared” and were “heavily armed” with the aim of targeting strategic assets of the Air Force.
The officers said the Army was on general alert since January 1 following intelligence inputs of a terror strike.
Firing could be heard during the night and Monday morning. Officials said this firing could be linked to the mopping operation.
IAF helicopters flew through the night over the air base to assist ground forces in the counter offensive against the terrorists.
Army and para-military forces have surrounded the entire air force base, which is spread in a huge area.
Four terrorists were killed by security forces on Saturday after a 15-hour long gunfight in which the NSG, Indian Army and IAF commandos were involved, assisted by IAF helicopters.
A gunfight between the remaining terrorist (or terrorists?), who acted like a separate team, and security forces continued through Sunday into Monday.
Seven security personnel, including one official of the National Security Guard, one IAF Garud commando and five Defence Services Corps (DSC) personnel were killed in the counter-offensive against the terrorists.
“Combing operation continued (on Sunday). This operation is at the completion stage. The operation will continue till the whole air base has been cleared of any intruders,” Air Commodore J. S. Dhamoon, the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the Pathankot Air Force Station told the media.