Just a week after Prime Minister Modi met up with Nawaz Sharif, his Pakistani counter, Indian Air Force Station at Pathankot is under attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Seven precious Indian lives have been lost and scores injured. Four terrorists are reported to be dead but the exact numbers of intruders are not known as yet.
On Saturday, the day terrorists stormed the base; it was believed that all the terrorists were dead and area contained but on Sunday, firing started again. The terrorists obviously managed to stay inside the air base without being detected.
On early Friday, a vehicle belonging to an SP was hijacked by the same militants that stormed the Air Force base soon after. Security should have been tightened following the incident but there seems to be many loose ends.
A clearer picture will emerge soon but nonetheless, many questions remain unanswered.
Many vital defence establishments were put on high alert following intelligence report of possible attacks around New Year in the Country.
The big question is how did the terrorists gained access to the vital defence station even though the Intelligence Inputs had clearly pointed out to the danger of a terrorist attack. What led to abysmal failure in intelligence sharing and follow up action by the central as well as state agencies?
Blame game among the central agencies, centre and the Punjab state govt will soon start but this particular incident should be a wakeup call for all concerned. There need to be coordinated efforts to ensure that such attacks do not happen again.
That can only happen when information is shared and acted upon by all agencies.
Saturday, November 23, 2024