Security forces gun down sixth terrorist at Pathankot airbase

4.50 pm: Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, Delhi's largest metro station, will be closed after 9 pm on Sunday due to security concerns that the terror unit responsible for the Pathankot attacks is planning another in the national capital.

4.45 pm: Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj met with a few foreign secretaries and Indian high commissioners to Islamabad to discuss how to proceed with diplomatic relations with Pakistan.

4.25 pm: The sixth terrorist has been shot to death at the India Air Force base in Pathankot.

4 pm: Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal said they will write to the Centre to increase the deployment of Border Security Forces personnel along the Punjab-Pakistan border, as there are not as many stationed there as at the Jammu and Kashmir border. He added that the Punjab Police will act as the second line of defence to the BSF and that a commando battalion will be established in Pathankot district, ANI reported.

3.30 pm: An eight-member National Investigation Agency team will be leading an inquiry into the attack, headed by Inspector General Alok Mittal.

3.15 pm: Security personnel gunned down the fifth terrorist in the ongoing encounter at the Pathankot airbase.

2.50 pm: Locals in Pathankot protest the attacks, and set effigies of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on fire.

2.40 pm: Security has been heightened in Delhi following renewed exchange of fire at the Pathankot airbase. Jaish-e-Mohammed is reportedly planning another attack in the national capital, according to intelligence inputs.

2.15 pm: A gun-battle is underway at the Pathankot air force base, where combing operations were being carried out.

2.10 pm: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on operations to counter the attack at the Pathankot airbase.

1.30 pm: Fresh firing has been heard, and at least two terrorists are still inside the airbase. The number of terrorists in the premises is still unclear, CNN-IBN reported.

12 pm: High alert has been sounded in Delhi following reports that two members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the Pathankot attack, sneaked into the national capital. Delhi Police has urged citizens to call 100 or 1090 to report any suspicious persons, objects, or activities.

11.40 am: An advisor on foreign affairs to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sartaj Aziz, said in an interview with Radio Pakistan that the country will focus on strengthening peace with India. He added that foreign secretaries of both countries will formulate a plan on comprehensive dialogue for the next six months, when they meet in Islamabad on January 15.

11.30 am: A team of National Investigation Agency officials reached the airbase.

10.30 am: Three National Security Guard personnel were injured in an explosion during search operations at the Pathankot airbase. PTI reported that an Improvised Explosive Device planted by the terrorists went off during the combing operations that continued through the night.

8 am: Security has been tightening around the airbase and has been stepped up in the capital as well, following a bomb threat at Ghaziabad railway station on Sunday morning. According to reports, the number of Indian security personnel who lost their lives as a result of Saturday’s attack has risen to seven, with three more succumbing to their injuries in hospital.

The Times of India reported that Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi may have been responsible for the Pathankot attack on Saturday, an assessment by a section of the top Indian security establishment found. The army headquarters is reportedly unhappy with the positive response garnered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lahore last week. Security agencies intercepted four phone calls the terrorists made to their handlers in Pakistan on Friday and Saturday, during which they were instructed to carry out the operation in a manner similar to the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. The attackers were found to be part of the Bahawalpur group of JeM, where leader of the terror group Masood Azhar is known to be based. He had played a key role in the hijacking of an Air India flight in 1999.

The plan to attack the base was also among information provided by a Pakistani spy arrested by the Delhi Police on December 28 from Bhisiana air force base near Bathinda. But the airbase was attacked before security agencies could thwart it. Pathankot was also part of conversations between dismissed air force airman Ranjith KK, who was apprehended for sharing confidential information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and his woman handler from the neighbouring country.

The Pathankot attack was reportedly launched to damage air force base assets and technical assets and kill as many personnel as possible. The incident on Saturday had security forces engaged in an encounter with an unknown number of militants in Punjab’s Pathankot, more than 17 hours after the gunmen attacked an Indian air force base.