'Some elements in Pak don't want talks': Capt. Amarinder

The president of the Punjab unit of the Congress party, Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday expressed disappointment over the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, saying it is a sad development.

"It's sad that this has happened after some efforts were made to restore peace with Pakistan, which everyone wants, but obviously, it seems that there are some elements in Pakistan who don't want that to happen," Captain Singh told ANI.

"What happened in Pathankot was obviously an attack on the aircraft and to destruct as many aircraft as possible. It was the vigilant santris and airmen of the Indian Air Force who stood their ground. Two of them have died but they didn't let any major damage take place," he said.

Singh had in a earlier tweet said "Pathankot attack clearly aimed at sabotaging peace process. It is obviously rogue elements in Pakistan who need to be dealt with strongly."

Early this morning, around five militants dressed in army fatigues opened fire near the Pathankot Air Force station. The Pathankot National Security Guard team and the Garud Commando Force were roped in to engage the terrorists in a gun battle that began shortly after 3 a.m. with terrorists in the non-operational area of the base.

At the time of the filing of this report, four of the five militants have been killed. There is a heavy deployment of security in and around the air force base. A terror alert has also been issued for most parts of northern India, including national capital New Delhi.

It is also being reported that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation in Pathankot, though this is yet to be formally confirmed.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is also expected to chair a high-level security meeting that will include the three service chiefs and heads of various key security and intelligence agencies to review the overall security situation and to assess the situation on ground.