No headway in Pathankot probe, Pakistan seeks more evidence

The investigation into the Pathankot airbase terror attack has made no headway even after a month as the evidence provided by India is not enough, Pakistan's probe team has said and has asked Islamabad to seek more evidence from India.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formed a six-member investigation team, headed by the additional inspector general of Punjab's counter terrorism department, in the second week of January to look into India's allegations that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was behind the Pathankot terror attack.

"The team has almost completed its investigation into five telephone numbers, allegedly used for making calls from Pakistan to India, provided by the Indian government. No further leads were found from these numbers because they were un-registered and had fake identities," Dawn on Monday quoted a source as saying.

"The probe is not heading further. The team needs more evidence. Therefore, it has written to the government to speak to India and apprise it of the situation, and demand more evidence to move forward in the investigation here," the source told the daily.

Pakistan would go to "any length" to uncover the alleged misuse of its soil. "It is our responsibility to uncover if our soil was used in the attack. We will do this and the ongoing investigation will be completed soon," the source claimed.

The Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries have been put on hold as India wants Pakistan to act against the perpetrators of the attack before going ahead with any bilateral dialogue.

India has maintained that it has provided several proofs to Pakistan, including call records, which reveal the hand of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar in the Pathankot attack.

Sharif recently admitted that the attack has derailed the Indian-Pakistan dialogue.

"Talks with India were progressing but the Pathankot attack has affected the dialogue process," he said and added that the findings of the probe will be made public. "Whatever facts come out, we will bring them forth before everyone."

Six terrorists stormed the Indian Air Force base in Indian Punjab's Pathankot town, killing seven security personnel. All the six terrorists were killed by the security forces.