Pakistan Using China-Made Drones To Smuggle Arms & Ammunition In Kashmir: Intel Reports

According to the officials, the terrorist groups and the ISI have procured the upgraded version of drone which can carry larger quantities of firearms as compared to the drones that were being used earlier.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: In order to expand the capacity of smuggling arms and ammunition across the border in India’s Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan backed terrorist groups and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are using bigger drones, counter-terror officials said.  According to the officials, the terrorist groups and the ISI have procured the upgraded version of drones which can carry larger quantities of firearms as compared to the drones that were being used earlier. Another official said that increased capacity was very much needed as the high mountain passes along the Line of Control (LoC) are all snowed which will, in turn, make it difficult for the terrorist to infiltrate in Jammu and Kashmir. According to different intelligence reports, Pakistan through its agencies and different terror factions is dropping weapons through drones in Punjab, which is meant to terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the official further added. Some intelligence reports also suggest that Pakistan-based Khalistani groups in order to revive militancy again in the border state are being pushed by their handlers to exploit farmer’s agitation in Punjab. According to the state police, the suspicions and threats have been communicated to the Union government and internal security agencies. According to reports, in Punjab alone apart from other aerial movements, there have been four Chinese drone recoveries by the state Police along with weapons since 12 August 2019. While Chinese drones being used to ferry arms and ammunition across the border is just part of the problem, the intelligence agencies have alerted the forces that the drones capable of carrying loads can also be used to bomb targets close to the border. According to an intelligence report that came in October, Pakistan’s ISI, inspired by the success of using cheap drones to carry out small bomb attacks, has been exploring this option for terrorist groups. The intelligence service later laid out the plan first at a meeting with senior Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed commanders in Punjab province’s Taxila in April this year. There was a follow-up meeting the next month at the brigade headquarters in Kotli district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir The coming two winter months with fog along the border in Punjab and J&K will test the Indian security agencies hard as more drone drops are expected, while India is pushing hard to build its anti-drone capacities, security officials said. Rakesh Asthana director-general Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday, alluded to the challenge at the raising day event of the force, pointing that the BSF had intercepted a drone with a huge payload of weapons and ammunition in Jammu’s Kathua sector on 20 June this year. The BSF is also working to find technical solutions to counter-drone infiltrations on the western border, he said. On the other hand, Punjab Police has asked the center as well as the Indian Air Force (IAF) to deploy low-level radars along the border to detect the drones and destroy them. While the BSF is now rushing to procure anti-drone systems as apart from weapons which mans the international borders.