Pathankot: Pak PM Nawaz Sharif orders JIT to probe terror attack

Islamabad, Jan 11: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered to set up a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the links of the Pathankot air base attackers with Pakistan, media reported.

The decision came after the leads provided by India which has linked the Foreign Secretary-level talks, scheduled for January 15, to Islamabad's decisive action on the Pathankot terror attack.

Officials from Intelligence Bureau (IB), Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) will be part of the JIT to investigate the case.

"Prime Minister Nawaz is taking an active role in getting to the bottom of the Pathankot incident," the Express Tribune reported citing a Prime Minister's House source.

"He also discussed the issue with army chief Gen Raheel Sharif and took him on board about the decision to form a JIT."

"This investigation will be a major test of the prime minister to move Pakistan-India relationship forward and to break the cycle of off-again on-again talks between the two neighbours," the source added.

In a pre-dawn attack on January 2, a group of heavily- armed Pakistani terrorists, suspected to be belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit, struck at the Air Force base in Pathankot.

Indian intelligence reports suggested that groups and people in Pakistan planned and executed the strike. India has provided "specific and actionable information in this regard" to Pakistan. The evidence is said to include some voice recordings and the cellular phone numbers of the attackers' handlers which were traced to Pakistan. Sharif has assured leaders from India and the US that Pakistan will investigate the matter and make the results public.

OneIndia News (With agency inputs)