After a brief lull, four Pakistani drones were again spotted at different locations in border belts of Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the intervening night of July 29 and 30.
Reports from Samba said that a drone was spotted at the border village of Chilayari, which is just a stone-throwing distance from the International Border (IB), on Thursday night. The BSF jawans fired two shots at the drone after which it returned to Pakistan.
Dwellers of Reghad and Chilaryian border villages also spotted drones, reportedly hovering at a distance of 500 meters. These villages are also located on the Zero-Line. Forces have been deployed in border areas to conduct a search operation.
Pakistan controlled drones spotted on highway
Drones were also spotted at Sandhi village in the Nonath area of Ghagwal on late Thursday evening. After hovering over the strategically important Jammu-Pathankot national highway, the drones reportedly returned to Pakistan. "Drones were seen at a height of over 300 meters on the highway", a local channel reported.
A local youth, Vivek Sharma, who claimed to be have spotted the drone told media that they have seen a drone hovering over Sandhi village and adjoining localities. "We immediately informed the police about the unidentified flying object", he said and added that within minutes the object disappeared from the spot. Another drone was also spotted at the Bari-Brahmana area on Jammu-Pathankot national highway.
In the border village of Pargwal in the Jammu district, drones were also spotted by the villagers. A massive search operation is going on in the area. The Jammu-Pathankot national highway has been put on high alert already as this highly vulnerable track was earlier attacked by terrorists several times.
As reported earlier, out of a total length of 100 km, a nearly 44-km stretch on the Jammu-Pathankot highway runs almost parallel to the border with Pakistan in Kathua and Samba districts. Although the Jammu-Pathankot national highway is never affected by shelling from across the border, this track is always vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Terror outfits planning attacks on August 5
Intelligence agencies have reportedly sounded that terror groups are desperately trying to strike on August 5, the second anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A. With the help of the Pakistani Army, terror groups are planning to carry out attacks on some vital installations to mark their presence.
Sources said that repeated intrusions of drones from across the border are indications that the Pakistani Army is trying to smuggle arms and ammunition to terror groups through drones.
On August 5, 2019, the Union Government had amended some clauses of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and abolished Article 35-A. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was also bifurcated into two Union Territories (UT) of J&K and Ladakh.
A drone carrying 5kg IED was shot down on July 23
On July 23, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had shot down a Pakistani drone carrying a five-kilogram Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Kanachak.
Special teams were deployed near Akhnoor after getting specific information regarding the intrusion of drones to drop ammunition. A drone was spotted at midnight when it lowered to drop the payload, the police team started firing and shot it down. Payload weighing around 5 kg IED in an almost prepared condition was recovered from the spot.
