M A I N   N E W S

Use toy planes, ISI tells LeT

New Delhi, February 3
In order to have a “mini replica” of September 11 attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan’s ISI has directed militants, especially of Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), to use “toy planes” to target army posts and VVIPs.

Quoting an interrogation report of a LeT militant arrested in the state, informed sources said the ISI had handed over a “fleet” of four dozen such planes, capable of carrying 10-15 kg of RDX, to LeT for carrying out an attack on army posts or helicopter gunships of the Indian Air Force.

The sources said two such planes were recovered recently from Rajouri district of the Jammu region. The “toy planes”, which can be operated by remote control, take a set trajectory and hit a target within a range of 300 m.

The arrested militant said the plane was displayed at a Lashker congregation in Pakistan. The militant was unable to give any further information about the toy plane but told his interrogators that the plane had flown out of his sight during its trial, the sources said.

The militant had said that the ISI wanted to repeat the performance of the September 11 of bombing of twin towers in the USA by carrying out similar attacks, through using these planes, the sources said. The arrested militant revealed that the ISI was also planning to destroy some of the forward Indian positions at the Line of Control and international border using the toy planes.

The sources said that this way, the ISI could use the plane from across the border and try to hit a forward Indian post, though such a strike may lack precision.

The toy plane could be folded inside a small briefcase and smuggled into the valley, the sources said, adding that the two seized planes in Rajouri were meant to be transported to Jammu for carrying out attacks at important installations and VVIPs.

The planes were being assembled in the Lashker-dominated area of Muridkee in Pakistan, the sources said. Meanwhile, in the wake of such reports, security agencies have again reviewed the security of important VVIPs, including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. PTI