The six terrorists liquidated at the Pathankot airbase had not only precise details of the assets inside the IAF installation but also had advance planning to the minutest details to cause maximum damage to vital assets like the fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, petrol dumps and ammunition.
While one of the two terrorists, who entered the campus after jumping from the outer perimeter wall and managed to sneak into the centre of the base in the dead of the night, blew himself up in which Garud commando Gursewak Singh was martyred, the second one from the batch of first two terrorists, who was firing indiscriminately, was overpowered and killed by DSC guard Jagdish Chander.
After the fidayeen blew himself up and indiscriminate firing by another accomplice in the first batch of the two terrorists, four other attackers entered the scene. Two of them engaged the NSG and Garud commandos who were successful in neutralising them on day one of the attack. These two terrorists took shelter in a trench after firing by the security forces following which a helicopter gunship was used to kill them. The NSG dogs kept these two terrorists restricted inside the trench.
The remaining two managed to cover a distance and took shelter behind the abandoned DSC barrack close to the technical area where they were killed after the security forces decided to blow up the building. Only the nails and melted flesh of the last two terrorists have been recovered from the site. As many as 29 blasts took place even after all the terrorists were dead as they carried about 50 kg of ammunition, including grenades and 25 kg of explosives, including aluminium powder which spreads fire and cannot be doused even with fire extinguishers.
The terrorists were trained at the airbase of Chaklala or layallpur airbase in Pakistan for a month before being trained at Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in PoK and in areas across the Jaisalmer border.
None of the terrorists were trained pilots but knew basic structure of airbase and how to harm aircraft and other assets. They were specially trained to strike Pathankot airbase.
They had pinpointed knowledge of aircrafts, ammunition and petrol dumps in Pathankot airbase.
The entire operation was planned by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in a meeting attended by Army Chief Dalbir Suhag. The NSG operation was the finest in the last 30 years.
As many as nine columns of Army were put into action besides 320 NSG commandos and the NSA had divided the entire airbase into 1,000 parts for operational purposes for better operational efficiency and zero in on the terrorists.
The NSA and the Union Home Ministry had given free hand to the force commanders to carry out the operation and as a result of which helicopter gunship was used.
An Air Marshal was guiding the security forces about strategic assets in airbase that were to be secured at all costs.
The last two terrorists, wanted to attack the airbase assets, tried to take advantage early in the morning on January 3 before being cornered in a building and blown away by the security forces.
While Garud commando Gursewsk Singh died in fidayeen attack by the terrorist, five DSC personnel were unarmed inside the mess and got ambushed due to first strike advantage to the terrorists after entering the airbase.
lt Col Niranjan died of accidental circumstances while disposing off explosives from a dead terrorist.