Authorities on Sunday claimed to have recovered magnetic improvised explosive devices in Sopore village of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In a statement, a J&K police spokesperson said that a suspect namely Saqib Shakeel Dar was apprehended along with war-like stores in a joint operation by security forces on Friday based on a specific tip off in Shangargund village of Sopore.
The statement said that during spot interrogation, he admitted to having hidden Magnetic IEDs in the Chak Barat orchards, following which forces launched a search in the orchard and recovered three IEDs and seven detonators.
The statement said that the magnetic IEDs are small but powerful bombs with high blast impact, affixed to vehicles, capable of causing serious damage and killing passengers.
“Easily portable, they enable specific targeting of VIPs and innocent passengers, avoiding existing detection measures by security forces and have been, of late, employed by militants across the globe,” the statement said.
Sticky bombs have been a cause of concern for security agencies in Kashmir because of their deadly impact on the targets. Earlier this year, a suspected sticky bomb was attached to a bus carrying pilgrims from Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu in which at least four pilgrims are killed.
Sticky bombs have been used in Afghanistan by the Taliban against the foreign forces with deadly impact. Due to their easy attachment process and an attached timer, they are very lethal against the targets.
Earlier this year, security agencies in Kashmir said that the sticky bombs were a cause of concern. There were fears that the terrorists might try to use these explosive devices against the Amarnath pilgrims but due to tight security arrangement, these attempts were thwarted.