NEW DELHI: Security agencies have received an intelligence report about a possible spurt in attacks by terrorists using Armour Piercing Incendiary (API) in Jammu and Kashmir. The API is a type of projectile that has the potential to pierce through body armours and bulletproof vehicles. According to the intel received, these APIs, which were earlier provided to anti-India terror groups by Pakistan, could now fall into the hands of terrorists, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba in large numbers, through their nexus with the Taliban.
In response, the Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered troops posted in the Valley to double their body armours, helmets and bulletproofing materials used to shield jawans and their vehicles, highly placed sources said. In the backdrop of the emerging scenario following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, there is apprehension that more APIs may be brought into India by foreign terrorists in the coming months.
More than a dozen encounters involving APIs have already taken place since the dastardly February 14 Pulwama attack in which primarily Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had been found involved.
Over the past few years, multiple reports prepared by the United Nations have claimed that groups like the JeM and LeT were working in close coordination with the Taliban.
“From India’s security point of view, the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan will begin to show only around March-April when the snow starts to melt over high passes in Kashmir. Pakistan may try to push terrorists with advanced weapons to India through Afghanistan as they have done in the past. We want to upgrade our API resistance abilities,” a senior government functionary said.
He added that both the Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir police have been asked by the MHA to at least double the high-grade bulletproof equipment required to counter API. According to sources, CRPF alone has around 2,000 armoured troop carriers at its disposal in Jammu and Kashmir. The central police force has around 15,000 bulletproof helmets and 35,000 bulletproof jackets, out of which around 2,000, mostly used by quick response teams, are equipped to counter API attacks.