Hammad Waleed, Muhammad Shoaib
Pakistani terrorist groups have started using small drones to terrorize local populations and target the already-stretched security forces, which are, so far, extremely vulnerable to this style of warfare and need a comprehensive recalibration of policy choices.
Introduction
Pakistan’s northwestern flank, which includes parts of the southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province (including former FATA) and Balochistan, has experienced a serious uptick in militant activities targeting Pakistani state infrastructure and personnel. Terror groups, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are using advanced and sophisticated drone technology. Unlike a few early episodes, they are not using drones only for psychological operations by recording terror attacks. In recent days, they have employed drones to attack Pakistani military assets deployed to secure the area from cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
A New Age of Terror
Last week, The Khorasan Diary reported that three Pakistan Army personnel lost their lives, including a captain-ranking officer, when terrorists attacked a military post in South Waziristan – a region subject to counter-terror operations for nearly two decades. They used quadcopters to drop explosive ordnance that killed the army personnel. Around the same time, militants reportedly carried out seven drone attacks in a single day. Reuters reported eight attacks targeting police and security forces in Bannu (KP) and adjacent areas.
Terror attacks in KP are not new, but the evolving tactics symbolize a more lethal underpinning: the permeation of commercially available small drones and their retrofitting for militant activities. The four-prop drones can fly hundreds of meters into the air, cross land obstructions with ease, and carry out attacks from a distance – allowing the activator to remain in safety. At a time when state militaries are still in the initial phase of operationalizing dual-use drones and manufacturing advanced unmanned systems that employ artificial intelligence, non-state actors have also wielded them. Off-the-shelf availability, cost-effectiveness, and feasible retrofitting are making small drones the go-to weapon for these actors – even worse, for jihadi outfits.
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