The initial investigations into twin drone terror attacks on the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Jammu on June 27 have revealed that some elements of the Pakistan army helped Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit in fabricating the ‘pressure fuse’ which triggered the explosion.
Sources said the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), fitted on drones that caused the blast, might have been initiated with ‘pressure fuse’, which is military ordnance and not a normally IED.
“The June 27 blast was not a normal IED blast but had a pressure fuse, which initiated the blast. Such type of IED can be manufactured in ordnance factories only and involvement of Pakistan Ordnance factory in this is highly possible,” they said.
A 'pressure fuse' is generally used in minefields, anti-tank mines and those dropped by the air force in the fuselage between the explosive and main detonator of a shell or an IED.
In the first case of use of unmanned aerial vehicles by militants to target a security installation in the country, two explosives-laden drones crashed into the IAF station at Jammu airport damaging the roof of a building and injuring two personnel.
On June 29, the investigation into the drone strike was handed over to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) after the elite counter-terrorism unit submitted a preliminary report of the incident to the Union Home ministry.
The ability of drones to evade radar, wreak devastation at strategic installations and transport weapons to terrorists has become a new concern for the country’s security establishment.
Of late Pakistan has been procuring armed drones from China and Turkey.
Since 2020, there has been a spurt in airdropping of weapons by drones and the smuggling of narcotics along the border in Jammu.
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Published 11 July 2021, 10:23 IST