Last Updated on June 30, 2021 at 3:09 pm
While the real target of terror drones that entered the Jammu Air Force Station recently is still unknown, new intercepts and information has revealed that terrorists might have been trying to target the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to keep the Jammu airport defunct for hours thus bringing J&K at the world stage through media.
It has been claimed that the ATC building was the target of the bombings at the Indian Air Force base (IAF). In the initial investigation it was believed that the helicopter hangar at the base was the target as Improvised Explosive Device (IED) fell near it but possibilities are there that the actual target was aimed at ATC which is common to the IAF and the civil airport.
These claims are being made as IED which had impact charges that set off after contact with an object had metal pieces in it. If the idea was to take out a helicopter or two, then it would not have any metal pieces to hit the equipment or cause splinters. It is because the area was only ATC, where people and equipment could be hit by these splinters at that particular time.
Security agencies said that chances of drones being operated in Jammu is less and may have actually flown from Pakistan but no strong evidence has been found out yet.
As per reports, it is believed that those who operated the drone zeroed in on the target using Google’s satellite imagery. The attack is believed to be carried out by some tech-savvy and not by the regular network of Over Ground workers (OGWs). “The two IEDs weighing around 5-6 kilograms with RDX as the main explosive charge were dropped at a distance of 50 yards from each other. One charge was some 40 yards from the ATC, while the other was around the same distance from the parked helicopter. The drop was made through a latitude-longitude device and that they missed the targets could be due to faulty execution or high wind factor,” said a senior security official.
Also it is being suspected that this attack is linked with the 5 kg IED recovered from a terrorist in Jammu’s Narwal area and this IED was dropped from Pakistan’s side using a drone. Interrogation with the accused is being done by police.
