A STICKY FORM OF TERROR

Long before the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, Taliban insurgents were using this guerrilla tactic to subvert its ground strength and set off bursts of violent mayhem.

- Moazum Mohammad

 That too with a simple device: small sticky bombs planted on vehicles carting the enemy. Inspired by its success, Kashmir is now witnessing the entry of this new weapon of offence alongside a shift in the tactical armoury of militancy itself.

Security forces woke up to the threat after a drone consignment was recovered in Samba along the LoC on February 14. Cheap and portable, a sticky bomb packs RDX or TNT into a small box, has a magnet to fix it to the target metal surface, and is detonated remotely with a timer. The security establishment is a bit spooked by the spectre because it can change the rules of engagement in the Valley-especially since planting these IEDs needs no special training. "It just needs two open wires to be connected to activate a blast," says Jammu ADGP Mukesh Singh.

Hence, the skill threshold needed to carry out blasts like the one on May 13when a bomb affixed to the fuel tank of a pilgrim bus en route to Vaishno Devi killed four and left nearly two dozen wounded is considerably lowered.