J-K: Army opens fire on Pak drones along LoC in Rajouri

Indian Army troops opened fire to take down multiple suspected Pakistani drones that entered Indian territory from across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday evening, army officials said in Jammu.

However, the drones briefly hovered in the Manjakote sector before returning to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), officials said.

The fresh drone sightings came as Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi said that the Indian Army on Tuesday strongly raised with Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) about sightings of Pakistani drones along the border areas in the Jammu Sector in the last three days.

Defence sources said that the Indian Army implemented counter-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) measures after drones were spotted along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. Around 7 pm, troops fired upon a few Pakistani drones when they entered Indian territory over Dunga Gala in the Chingus area of Rajouri. The drones subsequently vanished and are believed to have retreated to the other side, officials said.

Officials noted that army personnel detected the movement of two drone-like objects over the forward Dheri Dhara village around 7.35 pm and fired several live rounds to target them.

However, the suspected drones moved toward Kalali before returning, officials said, adding that a search operation was initiated to ensure no weapons or narcotics were airdropped by the drones.

On Sunday, troops guarding the Nowshera sector fired medium and light machine guns after observing drone activity over Gania-Kalsian village.

On the same day, drone movements were also detected over Khabbar village in Teryath, Kalakote in Rajouri, Tain-Topa in the Mankote area of Poonch district, and Chak Babral village in the Ramgarh sector of Samba. However, those flying objects returned within a few minutes.

Earlier on Friday night, security forces recovered an arms consignment, dropped by a drone from Pakistan, in Paloora village of Ghagwal near the International Border in Samba. The recovery included two pistols, three magazines, 16 rounds and a grenade.