Pathankot attack: Six security personnel killed, Defence Ministry confirms

A Garud commando and five soldiers from the Defence Security Corps were killed, while a Garud commando and eight DSC personnel were injured.

Securitymen stand outside the IAF base in Pathankot, which came under militant attack, on Saturday.

Ending confusion on the casualties among security forces in the >Pathankot attack , Defence Ministry officials on Sunday confirmed that six soldiers had lost their lives.

The six include one Garud commando and five soldiers from the Defence Security Corps (DSC) while one Garud commando and eight DSC personnel were injured.

“Additional casualties are because three DSC personnel passed away in the hospital during the night,” officials said.

As operations were underway on Saturday, one Garud and two DSC personnel were killed but confusion prevailed with reports of higher casualty rate among the security forces. Still the death toll is unusually high given that there was prior intelligence of an attack and forces were on high alert.

Officials said that blasts heard from inside the base in the morning were controlled explosions of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) carried out by security forces. These were done during the on-going combing operations to sanitize the area. However, at least one person could have been injured in the controlled explosion.