Pakistani quadcopters found hovering near LoC in J&K’s Poonch prompt Army to open fire

Srinagar: The army opened fire to bring down Pakistani quadcopters at two locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

Pakistani quadcopters were spotted by the army at two different locations along the LoC in the Balnoi-Mendhar and Gulpur sectors of Poonch at around 6:30 am, officials said. The army opened fire to bring down the flying objects, but they returned to the Pakistan side after briefly hovering over the Indian territory.

Reports said a search operation was launched by the army in neighbouring areas to check whether any weapons or drugs were airdropped by the quadcopters. Army and police maintain that drones were being largely used along the International Border and the LoC in Jammu, by the Pakistanis to drop weapons and drugs.

The Jammu and Kashmir police recently announced a cash reward of Rs three lakh to anyone providing information about drones flown from across the border with the purpose of dropping weapons and narcotics.

The first case of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by militants in the Union Territory was reported on June 27, 2021, when two explosives-laden drones crashed into the Indian Air Force (IAF) station at Jammu airport damaging the roof of a building.

As drones dropping weapons and narcotics in J&K from across the border have emerged as a new threat, anti-drone teams of the National Security Guards (NSG) have reportedly been deputed to counter the challenge.

Sources added the militant groups are evolving and are learning from the conflicts such as in Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine where drone technology made significant interventions.

Since February 2021, India and Pakistan have been strictly adhering to the 2003 ceasefire agreement but there has been a gradual increase in incidents involving the smuggling of arms and narcotics through drones.

The ability of drones to evade radar, wreak devastation at strategic installations and transport weapons to terrorists has become a new concern for the country’s security establishment.