Tension rises as 10 Pakistani drones spotted near J&K Keran sector
After the peaceful culmination of the Republic Day celebrations across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, multiple drone sightings along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Keran sector of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district late on Thursday night prompted the Indian Army to fire warning shots, following which the drones retreated.
This is the fourth major drone-sighting episode in the region since the beginning of the new year. According to ground reports, the local army unit deployed in the forward area of the Keran sector detected suspicious movement of multiple drones hovering near the line of control late Thursday night.
Moving swiftly, the ground troops fired warning shots, after which the drones retreated towards the Pakistani side. No casualties or damage were reported.
The ground troops are maintaining a tight vigil in the forward area and also launched searches to rule out the possibility of any arms dropping.
On January 11, alert troops of the Indian Army guarding the Nowshera sector in Rajouri successfully tackled multiple drone intrusions by opening fire from medium and light machine guns.
A total of five drone sightings were reported along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch, and the international border in Samba. On 13 January, two incidents of drone spotting were reported in the Jammu sector. After a gap of four days, another incident of drone sighting was reported along the International Border (IB) in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district on January 17.
In the Jammu region, security forces on Friday intensified their ongoing anti-terror operation in the snowbound Chatroo belt to track down and neutralise a group of three holed up Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in Kishtwar district.
Meanwhile, mobile internet services also remained temporarily suspended within a radius of six km covering Singhpora, Chingam and Chatroo to prevent their misuse by anti-national elements during the ongoing operation.
The operation in the area was launched on January 18, leading to a fierce gun battle in Sonnar forest near Mandral-Singhpora, resulting in the killing of a paratrooper and injuries to seven soldiers. Although the terrorists managed to escape, taking advantage of thick vegetation and the challenging terrain, the security forces continued their hunt for the terrorists despite more than two feet of snowfall.
Two more encounters took place between the army and the terrorists at Mali Dana top on January 22 and Janseer-Kandiwar on January 25, but the terrorists once again slipped deep into the forest area. Similar anti-terrorist operations are going on in the frontier districts of Rajouri and Poonch and the upper reaches of Kathua and Udhampur.
