Drones Emerging as Over Ground Workers: Defence Officials

SRINAGAR: Drones have emerged as the new (OGWs) “Over Ground Workers” for terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir and other vulnerable areas, triggering serious concern among defence agencies, defence officials have said.

The reliance on the human network of OGWs has been limited as many of them have been arrested or have gone into hiding due to incessant pressure from the security forces, they said. The shift from human networks to drone technology is a new frontier in asymmetric warfare, with Pakistan’s ISI also intensifying its efforts to push terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC) with the help of drones, the officials said.

Quoting officials, State Times reported that, some of the terrorists operating in Himalayas of Kashmir region, besides several areas of Jammu, have been using drones for maintaining surveillance over troops movement, they said while citing it as a reason for the little success in past counter-terror operations.

The drones in some instances are believed to be carrying eatables for the holed-up terrorists in the higher reaches of the Jammu region, Business Today reports citing defence officials.

The officials further warned that under the new strategy, Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI has been using drones for monitoring the presence of the army along the Line of Control and International Border, identifying vulnerabilities and analysing terrain to assist terrorists in crossing the LoC while minimising the risk of detection.