A Pakistani drone carrying sticky bombs and grenades was shot down as soon as it crossed into Indian territory in the Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir.
“There was a payload with the drone. Seven UBGL grenades and seven magnetic or sticky bombs have been recovered. Terror threat is looming large over the Shri Amarnath Yatra. The explosives may have been sent to target Shri Amarnath Yatra,” SSP Kathua RC Kotwal told journalists.
Sticky bombs which have been used with devastating effect in Afghanistan are now being diverted to J& K.
In Afghanistan they have been used to target journalists, members of the judiciary and civil society activists. But the Diplomat quoting former interior minister Masoud Andarabi said that the attacks have also been random designed to terrorise people and undermine the authority of the government.
Sticky bombs usually consist of explosives which are packed in a small box. Then a magnet attached to the box along with a mobile phone. The explosion is set off when the bomb-maker dials a programmed number, with the last two numbers casuing the detonation.
Terrorists on motorcycles can stick these bombs to vehicles in a traffic jam or when they are stop at red lights.
Mechanics running shops in Kabul’s Shah Shaheed area have been used to create openings in vehicles where sticky bombs can be stuck.
The drone that was shot down was spotted as police has strengthened its vigil following intelligence reports Pakistan is trying to equip terrorist outfits with the deadly sticky bombs ahead of the Amarnath Yatra next month.
Pilgrims come from all over India to visit the holy cave shrine for which security has already been tightened.
According to the police, the drone was part of a major terror plot aimed at the Amarnath Yatra which has been foiled.
The police had intelligence inputs that the terrorists might use sticky bombs to attack the Char Dham Yatra buses. A search party of police detected movement of a drone from the border in Talli Hariya Chak area under the Rajbagh police station’s jurisdiction in the morning and fired at it.
Sticky bombs being supplied by Pakistan to terrorist outfits operating in Jammu & Kashmir have emerged as a new threat ahead of the Amarnath Yatra and the summer tourist season.
Of late, pistols that can fire up to 30 rounds have apparently been smuggled from Afghanistan into Kashmir to strike at soft targets. Two terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) used pistols to kill Amreen, a female artist, with a vast social media following, who used to post her performance on Facebook and TikTok.
The security forces have stepped up their vigil to guard against this new threat and Kashmir range IGP Vijay Kumar is reported to have flagged the issue at a high-level police meeting earlier.
The forces are carrying out special drills to safeguard against this threat. While routes for the Amarnath Yatris are carefully sanitised for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), this year additional steps will be taken by the security forces to prevent the use of these deadly sticky bombs, according to a senior official.