A fresh input has triggered concerns for security forces in Jammu & Kashmir, adding to the growing alarm after the high-intensity Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10 and the subsequent seizure of a major cache of IED-making material from Faridabad.
According to a top-level official aware of the classified intelligence input circulated to all forces, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is suspected of planning another VBIED attack in J&K, primarily in South Kashmir. This threat is assessed in continuity with earlier intelligence inputs suggesting that elements operating from Pakistan/PoK, with the support of the ISI, have been preparing coordinated attacks in Delhi, Jammu, and Rajasthan since.
The official said the situation demanded “immediate and intense vigilance”, particularly with respect to abandoned or unfamiliar vehicles, which have been repeatedly linked to the attack methodology witnessed in the recent blast. Personnel deployed at Nakas (checkpoints) and Road Opening Parties (ROPs) have been instructed to treat such vehicles with “maximum suspicion”.
Forces have been advised to brief their personnel to exercise maximum caution toward abandoned items or suspicious vehicles in their areas of responsibility.
Sources also said that in the coming days, more security will be provided during movement of convoys of security forces to avoid any incident.
A VBIED-type IED is basically executed using a vehicle and Kashmir has seen such incidents in the past. In the 2019 Pulwama attack too, terrorists used VBIED to target security forces, killing 40 CRPF jawans. In Delhi too, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the Red Fort Blast case, has termed it a VBIED attack.
The heightened alert follows a major breakthrough by the NIA in its probe into the Delhi blast, which killed 13 people and injured several. In a detailed press release issued on November 16, the NIA confirmed that the explosion was triggered using a vehicle-borne IED and announced the arrest of Amir Rashid Ali, a resident of Samboora, Pampore (J&K), who allegedly conspired with the suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi.
Ali, in whose name the explosive-laden car was registered, was traced and arrested from Delhi after a coordinated multi-agency search operation. Investigators found that he had travelled to the Capital to help facilitate the purchase of the car ultimately used in the attack.
The NIA has also forensically confirmed that the deceased driver of the VBIED was Umar Un Nabi—an Assistant Professor of General Medicine at Al Falah University in Faridabad and a resident of Pulwama. Another vehicle owned by Nabi has been seized and is undergoing forensic examination. The agency has so far examined 73 witnesses, including several injured in the blast, and is pursuing multiple leads to uncover the wider conspiracy.
The top security official said the NIA’s confirmation that the Red Fort blast was a VBIED-type attack further reinforces the ongoing threat profile, especially the intelligence pointing to JeM’s plans for a similar strike in South Kashmir. (News 18)
