Hours before the militant assault on the Pathankot airbase, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had received an intelligence input about an “imminent attack” by a six-member fidayeen squad, sources said.
The police sources said the intelligence input about an imminent attack was received six or seven hours before the militants attacked the Pathankot airbase. The input was shared with other security and intelligence agencies, the sources said.
The intelligence received on Friday evening had clearly indicated that six Jaish-e-Mohammad militants had infiltrated and were ready to launch an attack, “most likely a fidayeen raid”, the sources said.
The militants launched the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot on Saturday, which continued amid confusion for four days and mounted pressure on the renewed bonhomie between India and Pakistan.
The United Jehad Council (UJC), a conglomerate of Kashmiri militant groups based in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has owned the responsibility for the Pathankot attack.
However, intelligence gathered by the Jammu and Kashmir Police points toward the involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group which has a history of carrying out fidayeen assaults — similar to the Pathankot attack — unlike the UJC.
The sources said the intelligence gathered so far made it clear that the attack was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad despite the UJC claim. The security agencies are not considering the UJC’s claim as credible. “It is an attempt to ease pressure on Pakistan and absolve the Jaish-e-Mohammad,” an official said.
The Afzal Guru Squad of fidayeen militants linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group which had attacked Parliament in December 2001, has emerged as the prime suspect in the attack on the Air Force base. The squad was formed in 2014.
Despite UJC taking responsibility, Intel points to Jaish
