By Zulfikar Majid
The fresh movement of drones from the direction of Pakistan on Friday evening along the International Border (IB) in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir has posed a new challenge for the security agencies in its counter-insurgency operations.
The first Pakistan drone (UAV) was seen flying inside (500 to 700 metres from IB) India’s air space near Border Outpost (BOP) Chak Faqira while the second UAV came from Pakistan post, Chaman Khurd, opposite Chak Faqira Police Station in Samba sector.
Border Security Forces (BSF), manning the border, fired towards the drones, but reportedly they managed to escape towards Pakistan’s side.
Sources said that soon after the movement of these drones was reported, a high alert was sounded by the BSF but no untoward trace like that of weapon dropping was seen. “In all likelihood, UAVs were a kind of surveillance drones which may have been sent.
On October 24, a surveillance drone of Chinese make was shot down by Army shortly after it crossed into this side of the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. In June, an attempt to drop weapons through a drone was scuttled .
There has been a spurt in the use of drones from the Pakistani side over the past few months to smuggle arms and narcotics.
A senior police officer told DH that airdropping of weapons and drugs using drones along the LoC and the IB is a wake-up call to the new emerging threat from Pakistan which is desperate to stir unrest in Kashmir, having failed to counter the abrogation article 370.
“With India deploying more troops along the border, making it difficult for militants to infiltrate, Pakistan spy agency ISI is now resorting to the use of Chinese drones and it has become a matter of deep concern for the security establishment,” he added.( DH )
