Jammu Drone attack: Owaisi terms it 'Act of war'; asks 'Why no air defence at IAF base?'

Lashing out at Pakistan over the drone attack at Jammu Air Base, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday, claimed that the attack needs to be taken as a cross-border act of war. Urging the Centre to treat the attack like the Pulwama attack, Owaisi asked if PM Modi will continue UAE-brokered talks with Pakistan. Blaming the Chinese and the Americans for supplying the drones, Owaisi asked 'Why were there no air defences over an Air Base?'.

Owaisi: 'Why no air defence over air base?'

Jammu drone attacks

On June 27, multiple blasts occurred in the premises of the technical area of the Jammu airbase, which were later confirmed to be drone attacks. Two blasts were heard within a gap of 5 minutes, the first blast sound is captured in the CCTV at 1.37 am while the second at 1.43 AM. Two Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel have suffered minor injuries in the drone explosions.  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a visit to Ladakh to review India's operational preparedness, has spoken to Vice Air Chief Air Marshal HS Arora and L-G Manoj Sinha.

The Air force reported that while one drone caused minor damage, the other was successfully intercepted in the open area. NIA reported that the IED-fitted drone came from across the International border and an  FIR has been registered under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the incident. IAF stations in Pathankot, Punjab and Awantipur, Srinagar have been put on high alert as sources state that the possible target of the drones was the aircraft parked in the dispersal area, ten meters away. The blast comes three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting with J&K's political parties and the Gupkar alliance, the first since the abrogation of Article 370.

On June 24, PM Modi held a meeting with 14 Kashmiri politicians including four ex- J&K CMs - Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Promising that the Union Territory will get an elected government after the delimitation process is over, PM Modi expressed satisfaction at the progress of development projects in J&K. Shah stressed that the delimitation and peaceful Assembly polls will be "important milestones" in restoring statehood as promised in the Parliament.