NEW DELHI : Hinting at Pakistan authorities inside support to the attackers of Pathankot airbase, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the terrorists operating from across the border could not function without inside support. Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Parrikar said, “Non-state actors carried out Pathankot attack but they cannot function without state support.”
Asked what steps were being planned to prevent such strikes in future, he said a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of a former Vice-Chief of Army Staff to inter-alia suggest measures to strengthen security at various military establishments across the country. He said the investigation into the attack by the National Investigating Agency was yet to be completed. A group of heavily armed terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad, who believed to had cross over from Pakistan, attacked the Pathankot airbase in the intervening night of January 1 and 2, killing seven security personnel, before being gunned down in an operation that continued for next three days. Mr Parrikar’s statement assumes significance as team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit the airbase to probe the incident.
(AGENCIES)
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