Pathankot: A key airbase in war and peace

CHANDIGARH: Barely 40km from the Pakistan border the Pathankot Air Force station is one of the strate gically important forward airbases of India during war and peacetime.

The station is a defensive airfield due its proximity to Pakistan and vital for tactically offensive oper ations of the IAF. It provides logistic support to J&K.

The Pathankot airbase along with the airfield at Amritsar provide an essen tial operational range for deep air raids into Pakistan It houses MiG-21 Bison fighter jets and MI-25 and MI-35 attack helicopters. Be sides this, it has Pechora surface-to-air missiles, oth er air defence missiles and surveillance radars. The station witnessed many at tacks during the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.

During the 1965 War, Pakistan army's commandos had raided Pathankot air base and other forwards air bases, including Adampur and Halwara, in Punjab.

In 1971, Pakistan launched an air strike on Pathankot airbase and dam aged a portion of the runway. Though IAF veterans are happy at no loss to high value assets in Friday's attack, they are of the view that such vital airbases, located in operational areas should be guarded by the Army or by specialised forces.

Air Marshal Randhir Singh (retired), former commander of the South Western Air Command, said, "Air force is a technical force. Learning lessons from such attacks, the Centreshould ensure their security by specialised forces."

Cops: Terrorists may have got local support

Punjab police are investigating if the fidayeen who attacked the Pathankot Air Force station had local contacts that provided them logistical support and details about the region's topography. Sources said after crossing the international border, the terrorists first contacted taxi driver Ikaagar Singh who they questioned about the location of Pathankot air force base. When Ikaagar got suspicious, they slit his throat. "It's yet to be confirmed if they used an Indian SIM card to call Ikaagar or if the call was made from a Pakistani SIM," an official said. A senior police officer said they believe that terrorists already knew the place. "We are not sure of any local support, we don't rule out the possibility" he said.