LeT, Khalistani Groups Acquire Paragliders Amid Rising Aerial Threats, Security Agencies Alert

New Delhi: A recently compiled multi-agency security assessment has flagged serious concerns over terrorist outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Khalistani extremist groups, acquiring paragliders and related aerial equipment, significantly expanding the spectrum of potential threats to India’s security grid.

According to sources familiar with the report, the assessment was prepared this year and consolidates intelligence inputs on emerging aerial threats to enable coordinated countermeasures involving multiple agencies and security forces. The findings assume heightened significance against the backdrop of increased drone activity along the Indo–Pakistan border, particularly during night hours.

Sources said unauthorised aerial movements have been detected and intercepted mainly along the border, prompting the issuance of multiple alerts and intensification of surveillance and counter-drone operations in forward areas.

The report also notes that several incidents involving unidentified flying objects have been recorded across different parts of the country. Security agencies are closely analysing evolving threats posed by aerial platforms such as drones, remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), paragliders, hang gliders, and similar devices, and integrating these risks into existing security protocols, including arrangements for Republic Day 2026, a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

The assessment highlights a global trend of increased use of drones to target dignitaries and high-value assets, underscoring their growing role in asymmetric warfare and terrorist tactics. In this context, officials pointed to the use of motorised paragliders by Hamas during attacks in Israel, illustrating how such platforms can bypass conventional security systems and be exploited for terror operations.

Meanwhile, on the ground, intermittent firing was reported from the Najote forest area of Billawar in Jammu and Kashmir, around 10 km from the Kamadh Nallah in the Kahog forest belt, where security forces had earlier exchanged fire with terrorists on January 7. Officials said the suspected militants opened fire after noticing the movement of troops, who retaliated while advancing deeper into the forest to neutralise them.

The cordon-and-search operation in the area has since been intensified, with additional forces deployed to track down the militants.

Earlier, on January 12, suspected drone-like objects originating from across the border were spotted at multiple locations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, triggering the activation of counter-drone measures by security forces.

Officials said agencies remain on high alert as they recalibrate strategies to counter both conventional and emerging aerial threats.