NEW DELHI: A day after two drones dropped bombs at an Indian Air Force (IAF) base in the northern city of Jammu, the army said on Monday it had thwarted more attacks by firing at two drones at a military station on the outskirts of the area.
“On midnight of 27-28 June 2021, two separate drone activities were spotted over Ratnuchak-Kaluchak Military area by alert troops. Troops fired 20-25 rounds at the drones ... Both the drones flew away,” it said in a statement on Monday.
“A major threat thwarted by the … proactive approach of troops. The security forces are on high alert, and the search operation is in progress,” it added.
This marks the second such incident in 24 hours after two explosive-laden drones attacked the IAF base on Sunday, injuring two security personnel. Media reports said the explosions were so loud they could be heard over 1 km away.
Initial reports suggest that at least 2 kg of explosives were used to operate the improvised explosive device at the Jammu airbase, with the target believed to be a helicopter hangar at the technical airport.
This is the first time drones have been used to target Indian defense establishments, which experts termed as “something new.”
“It’s something new that terrorists are using, and we need to find some quick countermeasures to react to the drone attacks,” former Lt. Gen. Deependra Singh Hooda told Arab News on Monday.
“Currently, we don’t have the technology to counter drone attacks,” Hooda, who served as a general officer of the Northern Army Command in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016, added.
Others said that the attack was an attempt to derail “an evolving peace process” between India and Pakistan.
“It might be the case that some nonstate actors want to derail the peace process,” Laxman Kumar Behera from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, a New Delhi-based defense think tank, told Arab News.
“Enemies are always looking at new ways to harm India,” he added.
Indian security forces launched an investigation into the drone strike on Sunday with Jammu and its surrounding areas put on high alert.
The Jammu airbase is a dual-use facility under IAF control. It also operates passenger flights.
“Jammu is not a big airbase; it has only helicopters,” Kapil Kak, a former air vice-marshal, told Arab News on Sunday.
“It is located just 15 km away from the Line of Control that divides India and Pakistan. The possibility is that somebody from our side has come over and launched his drones from Indian territory. There is uncertainty in Kashmir today. Whether that has caused the drone attack, I cannot say right now,” he added.
