Pathankot terror attack
Pathankot terror attackReuters

The United States has handed over crucial evidence to National Investigation Agency which confirms Pakistan's involvement in January's Pathankot Air Force Station terrorist attack. It also reveals Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of Facebook groups used by the handlers in Pakistan.

The attack on January 2 by a heavily armed terrorist group had claimed the lives of six security personnel. The Narendra Modi government claims that Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) was behind the attack and demands to bring the culprits to justice.

According to emerging reports, the U.S. has provided the IP addresses of Facebook accounts operated by JeM members behind the attack. The information also includes the IP address of the website of JeM's financial arm, Al Rehman Trust, according to the Times of India.

The U.S. investigation also found that the Facebook groups accessed by JeM handler Kashif Hain's friends and associates were also related to jihad. JeM also had pictures of the four terrorists killed in the Pathankot attack -- Hafiz Abu Bakar, Umar Farooq, Abdul Qayum and Nasir Hussain.

"The US has confirmed that all these websites and IP addresses originated in Pakistan and the photos were uploaded around the time of the Pathankot attack," the report said quoting an official.

"The alleged JeM handler communicated over two-dozen times with the terrorists by telephone. He has managed to cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," a member of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the attack said.

The attack had led to a breakdown in India-Pakistan relations. It occurred days after Modi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his birthday in December 2015.