Almost 70 hours after the terrorists attacked it on Saturday, military operations are still on to sanitise and secure the sprawling base. Though sources did not rule out the presence of more terrorists, they said it was unlikely.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley said the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot base were a "suicide squad" and wanted to "damage our Air Force assets." The minister said prompt action by security forces helped minimise damage.

The aim, the minister said, "was to capture alive or liquidate terrorists." The operations have taken long because the air base is huge, Mr Jaitley said.

Four terrorists had died in the gunbattle on Saturday. Two others reported to be still hiding in a building where Air Force personnel live with their families, were killed in a heavy military offensive since Sunday, sources said.

The NSG said all families were safe and "all air base assets have been secured and are safe." The base houses 1,500 families. It also has aircraft and helicopters apart from other military hardware.

Pakistan has condemned the attacked and said it is working on leads provided by India. "In line with Pakistan's commitment to effectively counter and eradicate terrorism, the Government is in touch with the Indian government and is working on the leads provided by it," said a press release by the foreign affairs ministry of Pakistan.

The terrorists - suspected to be members of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish e Mohammad - are believed to have crossed over into India on the intervening night of December 30-31.

An alert was sounded after they abducted a senior policeman and hijacked his car. The Punjab Police had also sent an alert earlier, based on intelligence, that terrorists could attack vital installations.

The terrorists entered the base some time between Friday and Saturday. Sources said had they got in earlier, they would have got access to the technical area and oil dumps, where they were headed when they were engaged.