Key Points:
- The attack is the first time that an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-mounted explosives were been used to target an Indian Air Force (IAF) base.
- On the night of June 26-27, two explosions took place in the span of only 5 minutes at the high security technical area of Jammu Air Force Station.
- Two UAVs dropped explosives close to a Mi-17 hanger.
- One of the blasts created a huge hole into a concrete roof of the building that was close to a hanger.
- Two personnel have sustained minor injuries but currently are out of danger.
- Both the Jammu & Kashmir Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are probing the terror strike.
Amidst the coronavirus threat in the country, India’s Jammu Air Force has been attacked by a speculated enemy – Pakistan, on Sunday.
The building roof of the Jammu Air Force Station was blown away when two aerial blasts took place. The attack was one of a kind and first on the country via DRONES. The motive behind the aerial attacks is assumed as per the initial assessment to be a part of a plot to target helicopters.
The Attack
- On the night of June 26-27, two explosions took place in the span of only 5 minutes at the high security technical area of Jammu Air Force Station.
- Two UAVs dropped explosives close to a Mi-17 hanger.
- One of the blasts created a huge hole into a concrete roof of the building that was close to a hanger.
- Two personnel have sustained minor injuries but currently are out of danger.
It was the first time that an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-mounted explosives were been used to target an Indian Air Force (IAF) base.
Both the Jammu & Kashmir Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are probing the terror strike.
The direction of the drones is still unclear whether it came from the India-Pakistan border or was it guided from a building or an elevated point close to the IAF base.
Experts also say that the attack marked a new chapter in Pakistan’s proxy war against India in Jammu and Kashmir.
Air Vice Marshal Sunil Nanodkar (retired) who is a former assistant chief of air staff said, “It appears to be a trial run by the adversary to gauge India’s capability to detect small targets that can fly across the border and target Indian installations.”
“The attack at the IAF station in Jammu is a terror attack,” said Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh, NDTV reported.
Singh also said, “Another crude bomb was found by the Jammu police. This IED was received by a Lashkar e Taiba operative and was to be planted at some crowded place.”
Not forgetting the fact that Pakistan-backed terrorist groups and its Inter-Services Intelligence have been using drones to smuggle arms, ammunition and drugs across the border into J&K and Punjab.
A senior army officer said, “Such unmanned aerial objects laden with explosives can prove lethal for the defence installations in J&K. We all know Pakistan, controlled by its army, would never deviate from its bleed-India campaign. Therefore, it is high time that we seriously pondered over the new threat.”
“The Sunday attack in the dead of night is a first of its kind in India and it must ring alarm bells among those at the helm of affairs,” said the officer.
Several drones have been detected and neutralised by the Indian Army in the past in which weapons have been detected.
