India works to defuse grenades

Indian security forces were working yesterday to carefully defuse grenades in the final stages of an operation to secure a vast air base near the border with Pakistan, two days after a militant attack killed seven military personnel and wounded 22.

The attack, a rare targeting of an Indian military installation outside the disputed region of Kashmir, threatens to undermine a tentative thaw in relations with Pakistan.

A senior federal government official said two militants who were hiding in the administrative block of the base had been killed on Sunday, but authorities had yet to recover the bodies.

"A total of six terrorists have been killed, but every inch of the air base has to be secured before we call off the operation," said the official in New Delhi, who requested anonymity.

Manish Mehta, an Indian army spokesman, said the military was working at a "very fast pace" to defuse live hand grenades and gather the remains of the militants.

"The air base is large and we have been working all night to ensure that the base is totally in our control," said Mehta.

A soldier from India's counter-terrorism force, the National Security Guard, was killed by an exploding grenade on Saturday as he lifted the body of one dead attacker, prompting caution in work to clear the area of possible booby-traps.

Military trucks were seen entering and leaving the walled compound and helicopters were flying over it yesterday morning.

A government official said yesterday India is mulling its options on whether to go ahead with foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan scheduled for later this month.

A final decision on the talks, scheduled for Jan 15, is expected to be taken after security forces have completed their operation at the Pathankot air base, the source said, requesting anonymity.

The attack came about a week after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the first by an Indian premier in 11 years.

Officials said the attack bore the hallmarks of previous suspected assaults by Pakistan-based militant groups, underscoring the fragility of recent efforts to revive bilateral talks between the nuclear-armed neighbours.