Did the NSA’s ‘civilian’ NSG botch up the Pathankot operation? Would the army have handled it better? With the NSG out of its depth, the army was called in to deliver the final punch.
Much before the 168 men of the National Security Guard (NSG), ordered in by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, landed at Pathankot air force base in the evening of January 1, the terrorists who struck in the wee hours of the next day were already inside and biding their time. They had scaled the 11 feet high perimeter wall, possibly in separate groups of two and four. While the group of four was in a forested area of the base, the other two who entered—most likely on the intervening night of January 31-1—hid in a truck in the parking area of the base, where scores of vehicles are stationed. They obviously knew beforehand that the vehicles parked in this particular area of the base are not used on a regular basis and they could remain there undetected. Who told them?
This story is from the January 18, 2016 edition of Outlook.
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This story is from the January 18, 2016 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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