Air bases near Delhi on high alert ahead of R-Day

Air Force bases in and around the capital have been put on alert in view of the Republic Day parade.

"Around Republic Day every year, the IAF puts its airbases around Delhi on a routine alert," IAF spokesman T K Singha said in New Delhi. The alert coincides with terror warning by the government about possible threats from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba following reports that the terror outfit has procured 50 paragliders for air-borne suicide attacks.

The government has put all Air India planes operating in the country's neighbourhood on high security alert following intelligence inputs from Western agencies that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba

and other terror groups were planning to hijack a flight. According to intelligence inputs, terrorist groups having allegiance with Al Qaeda, LeT and Jamat-ul-Dawa were planning to hijack an Air India plane especially operating in or from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries -- Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as well.