Day after, alert security forces foil another drone attack in Jammu

The first-of-its-kind drone attack on India territory in Jammu on Sunday morning was followed by another attempt to target a military area in Jammu on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

Alert security personnel spotted two drones over Ratnuchak-Kaluchak military area in Jammu and fired at them, after which they flew away.

“On midnight of June 27-28 2021, two separate drone activities were spotted over Ratnuchak- Kaluchak Military area by alert troops. A high alert was sounded immediately and Quick Reaction Teams engaged them with firing,” Lt Col Devender Anand, Defence PRO in Jammu said. “Both the drones flew away. A major threat thwarted by the alertness and proactive approach of troops. The security forces are on high alert and the search operation is in progress,” he said.

Two Air Force personnel suffered injuries after a suspected drone launched two explosive devices over the Indian Air Force Station in Jammu on early Sunday morning. While no major damage was reported, the roof of a building suffered damages. The attackers probably had the aircraft hangar as a target, but they missed it completely. Sources say that the attackers also had the air traffic control (ATC) tower on their target list.

The terror attack was the first of its kind on Indian territory. Before, no Pakistani drone has ever travelled more than 12 km distance on the Indian side. This one, however, covered a distance of 15 kms from the International Border (IB) with Pakistan. The drone was probably flying at a height of 1.2 kms and could have been powered by long range batteries.

While intelligence agencies strongly believe the drone was controlled from the other side of the border, they aren’t ruling out the possibility that it could have been operated from the Indian territory.

Also read: Crude bomb found after drone attack on IAF airport in Jammu

The Jammu attack happened a few hours after the local police nabbed an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative with 5 kg explosives in the Jammu region. Investigators suspect that Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was behind the Jammu attack.

The investigations are handled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).