In a first-ever drone attack on a military facility in India, two back-to-back blasts rocked a high-security Air Force station in the central government-controlled territory of Jammu and Kashmir early on Sunday.
Two Indian Air Force personal sustained minor injuries in the explosions that took place in the technical area of the Jammu Air Force Station barely six minutes apart. The first blast ripped off the roof of a building inside the airport, the Indian Air Force said.
"Two low intensity explosions were reported early Sunday morning in the technical area of Jammu Air Force Station. One caused minor damage to the roof of a building while the other exploded in an open area," the Air Force tweeted.
"There was no damage to any equipment. Investigation is in progress along with civil agencies," it added.
Sources said that the anti-terror National Investigation Agency has been roped in to assist in the probe. "Preliminary probe suggests that drones were used to trigger the explosions," sources said.
The central government-controlled territory's police chief Dilbag Singh told the local media that it was a terror attack and cases under the anti-terror law have been registered at the local station.
Earlier in the day, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took stock of the situation and asked the Vice Chief of the Air Force to rush to the high security airport.
"Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh spoke to Vice Air Chief, Air Marshal HS Arora regarding today’s incident at Air Force Station in Jammu. Air Marshal Vikram Singh is reaching Jammu to take stock of the situation," the Defence Minister's Office tweeted.
Five years ago, another high-security Indian Air Force station in Pathankot town in the neighbouring state of Punjab was attacked by a heavily armed group. The Pathankot Air Force Station is under the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force.
Five militants and seven Indian soldiers were killed during three days of fighting at the Pathankot station in January 2016. A Kashmir-based militant outfit had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, believed to been carried out to detail peace moves by arch-rivals India and Pakistan, reports UNB.
