Pathankot: How did terrorists carry so much ammunition around for 2 days

Pathankot, Jan 5: A large cache of ammunition, 30 kilograms of RDX is what the terrorists, who staged an attack on the Pathankot air force station, are said to have had.

There is a lot of contradiction about the number of terrorists who attacked the air base, but both IAF officials and the NSG have indicated that the number of terrorists is tentatively six.

[Timeline of Pathankot terror attack]

The bigger question is how did the terrorists manage to carry so much ammunition on them, infiltrate into India, kill a taxi driver, abduct a police officer and then carry out the attack.

There is a clear indication that the terrorists had infiltrated into India on Dec 31 itself. It was almost 30 hours later that the attack was carried out.

Had the ammunition landed earlier?

Going by the accounts given to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, those who saw the terrorists did not find much ammunition on them.

It is not possible to carry that much ammunition and go around, NIA officials say. Going by the attack, it was clear that the terrorists were here for a long haul. They had ammunition which could last them at least a week.

[Pathankot terror attack: Were terrorists helped by a familiar face on the border?]

The security forces too during the operation kept the terrorists engaged in a bid to drain them of their ammunition.

Did the ammunition come in prior to the terrorists infiltrating into India? Was the ammunition procured locally or did a member of the terrorist group drop it off after the terrorists had infiltrated?

An intelligence bureau official says that they are probing the ammunition trail as well.

"We are already looking for local links in the attack and suspect that some smugglers could have helped them," the officer also informed.

OneIndia News