The battle between Indian armed forced and a group of militants at the Indian air force base in Pathankot, near the India-Pakistan border, has now entered its third day.
The attack began in the early hours of Saturday, when terrorists dressed in Indian military uniforms entered the residential area of the base using a hijacked police vehicle. Pathankot is located around 430 km away from the Indian capital.
At least seven soldiers and five terrorists have been killed so far. These include Commonwealth gold medalist Fateh Singh and National Security Guard commando Niranjan Kumar, who was killed while defusing a grenade from the body of one of the dead terrorists on Sunday.
After an intense battle, Indian armed forced managed to secure the compound on Saturday. However on Sunday afternoon, two more terrorists emerged from hiding, and resumed their attacks on the base. With reports of loud explosions being heard on Monday morning, more attackers are suspected to be inside the base.
The Indian capital was also put on high security alert following intelligence reports that two to three terrorists may have entered Delhi.
The attack comes just days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Dec. 25, 2015, in a bid to promote peace between the two countries. Indian security officials have alleged that the Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed is responsible for the attack, and is being backed by Pakistan.