Terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir are now using drones as the new "Over Ground Workers" (OGWs) for surveillance. This shift from human networks to drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is inducing concern for the Indian security agencies, said the officials on Wednesday.
Since many Overground Workers (OGWs) have been arrested or forced into hiding due to increasing pressure from security forces, officials said there is much less reliance on the OGWs' human network. Pakistan's ISI is stepping up its efforts to use drones to push terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC), marking a new frontier in asymmetric warfare as the shift from human networks to drone technology occurs, added the officials.
Some of the terrorists holed up in heights in the Kashmir region, as well as in Kishtwar and Rajouri, have been using these drones for maintaining surveillance over the approaching troops, they said, citing it as a reason for the little success in past counter-terror operations. Not only surveillance, but these drones, in some cases, are believed to be carrying dry ration for the holed-up terrorists in the higher reaches of the Jammu region.
The use of drones by terrorist groups to target important installations in Jammu and Kashmir began on 27 June 2021, when two UAVs struck buildings at the Jammu airport, marking a significant escalation in the conflict.
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After 2017, officials saw the use of drones for drug smuggling and later for dropping weapons along Punjab's international border as a prelude to using them for direct attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. According to the officials, the ISI is using drone technology to conduct accurate situational assessments in real time before attempting infiltration.
The officials also said that under the new strategy, the ISI has been using drones for monitoring the presence of the army along the Line of Control or the International Border, identifying vulnerabilities and analysing terrain to assist terrorists in crossing the LoC while minimising the risk of detection.
There were credible inputs that in third week of May this year, ISI officials and top terrorists of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed outfits in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) had a meeting during which focus was laid on increasing recruitment and the "importance of drone surveillance along the LoC to monitor conditions before infiltration attempts, the officials said.
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They said there were plans to replace active guides with residents from PoK or Pakistan to manage infiltration routes more effectively. The officials said that ISI was working on a detailed plan for the terror outfits that included relocating terror training camps and launching pads within PoK and constructing underground bunkers in preparation for potential armed conflict with India.
This move from ISI is believed to be a response to "Operation Sindoor," in which the Indian Air Force targeted and destroyed nine terror facilities in PoK and Pakistan, which included the headquarters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba terror groups.
The rise of drone technology has opened a new and dangerous chapter in global terrorism, with UAVs now being used by terror groups for a variety of nefarious operations, including intelligence collection and the delivery of explosives.
A report from the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), a nonprofit professional association dedicated to serving America's Army, said, "Once Pandora's box was open, bad actors adapted quickly and began using drones to plan and conduct attacks." The report had said that terrorist organisations are learning lessons from previous conflicts and are continuously adapting their methods. The first use of drones by terrorists was by the Islamic State during military operations in Iraq's Mosul, where they deployed UAVs for both reconnaissance and bomb dropping.
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