Terrorists using 'drones' to target forces in K-P

Terrorists have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said, a potentially dangerous development in the volatile province.

The use of such drones, which are powered by four rotors allowing for vertical take-off and landing, is worrying the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against terrorist attacks, officials said.

Two quadcopters sent by the terrorists targeted a police station earlier this month, killing a woman and injuring three children in a nearby house in Bannu district, said police officer Muhammad Anwar.

A drone spotted over another police station on Saturday was shot down with assault rifles, he said. It was armed with a mortar shell, he said. At least eight such drone attacks have targeted police and security forces in Bannu and adjacent areas in the last two and a half months, he said.

Regional police chief Sajjad Khan said terrorists were still trying to master the use of the drones. "The terrorists have acquired these modern tools, but they are in the process of experimentation and that's why they can't hit their targets accurately," he added.

They are using the quadcopters to drop improvised explosive devices or mortar shells on their targets, five security officials said. They said these explosive devices were packed with ball bearings or pieces of iron.

K-P IG Zulfiqar Hameed said the police lacked resources to meet the new challenge. "We do not have equipment to counter the drones," he told a local news channel on Sunday. "The terrorists are better equipped than we are," he said.