At least three Indian Air Force personnel were killed during a 15-hour gun-battle on Saturday after at least five terrorists launched an attack on an air force base in Punjab's Pathankot district. The five men – who are suspected to be members of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad – slipped into the area during early hours of Saturday and were subsequently killed by the armed forces.
This was the second terrorist attack in Punjab in less than six months. In July, 10 people were killed after three attackers hijacked a car, opened fire on a bus station and stormed into the police station in Gurdaspur district. The victims included four policemen and three civilians.
Even though there were indications from the government that the Gurdaspur attackers may have come from Pakistan, there are stronger signs about about Jaish-e-Mohammad's involvement this time around. However, the Indian government has resisted the temptation of directly blaming Islamabad, even though the Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the perpetrators would be given a "befitting reply" .
Pakistan, on its part, also condemned the attacks and announced that it would fight alongside India to contain terrorism.
"Pakistan condemns the terrorist incident in Pathankot, India, today, in which many precious lives have been lost," Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement on Saturday. "Building on the goodwill created during the recent high-level contacts between the two countries, Pakistan remains committed to partner with India as well as other countries in the region to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism afflicting our region.”
Pakistan's English language newspapers gave the attacks front-page space. The story made it to the top of almost all major dailies.
Here's a selection:
Even as the news made headlines in major Pakistani dailies, newspapers refrained from running editorials or op-eds in their Sunday editions – presumably to prevent jumping the gun while investigations are still on.
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