New Delhi, July 18: Pakistan-based jihadist group Jaish-e-Muhammad is reportedly training its cadres in deep sea diving with the aim to target "strategic assets" of the Indian Navy.

The training, said an NDTV report citing Intelligence sources, is underway at central Bahawalpur camp of Jaish. The intel inputs have not cleared whether the use of "strategic assets" in the warning note was generic in nature.

In case the phrase was "specifically" used, it was intended to alert the naval authorities guarding the ballistic missile submarines, including the INS Arihant and INS Arighat. Both of them are stationed at the naval port at Visakhapatnam, along with INS Charka, the Russian-built nuclear attack submarine.

The intel warning is being "seriously assessed" by the Navy, the report adds. The alert was issued by India's Multi Agency Centre, which coordinates between all intelligence wings and security agencies.

While heeding to the intel alert, Navy sources attributed in the report claim they are prepared to counter the deep sea threat. All naval bases and ports are equipped with a multi-layered security grid with sonar systems which enables the detection of deep sea divers in the vicinity.

The attack on strategic bases using deep sea divers has been acknowledged as a threat by Navies across the world. While sonar system-enabled grids act as a deterrent, the capital warships may not be best placed in situations where the underwater threat is imminent. The danger gets aggravated when the defence vessel is in tighter spaces viz. ports and dockyards.

An extremist attack using the deep sea operandi was carried out by the Al-Qaeda in 2000, when its fidayeen squad rammed an explosives-laden boat into the USS Cole, one of the prime American destroyers, which was getting refuelled at the Aden port in Yemen. 17 US Navy personnel were killed in the attack.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2018 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).