Pakistan urged to trace IAF terror links

Pakistan must use its intelligence network to find out who in this country were spoken to over telephone by the terrorists who attacked an Indian Air Force base in Punjab, a newspaper said on Sunday.

"At the very least, Pakistan can use its extensive intelligence network to find out who made the calls that were reportedly made from the handlers from this side of the border," The Nation said in an editorial.

"It can crack down on areas where the calls were made from to flush out any terrorist cells," it added.

But the editorial noted that Islamabad was seeking more evidence than what had been provided by New Delhi on the so-called Pakistani links to the January 2 terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot.

The attack left seven Indian security personnel dead besides all six attackers, who Indian officials say were terrorists from Pakistan who had sneaked into Punjab.

While India believes the information it has provided was "actionable intelligence", Pakistani officials do not deem the leads sufficient enough to act on at this moment, the Nation said.

"Obviously, the nature of the information provided has not been made clear, but it seems the two governments are already on different pages regarding the attack," it said.

"India (wants) arrests made, weapons found and links discovered and Pakistan wants more evidence in order to do those things," it said.

"Reportedly, there are demands from this side of the border for further evidence, including DNA samples of the attackers.

"These should be taken seriously, and both governments should keep the other in the loop regarding the investigation."