J-K: Suspected Pakistani drones spotted over border areas; search operation launched

Security forces spotted the movement of suspected Pakistani drones along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in several districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday evening, news agency PTI reported citing officials. Security officers suspect that the vehicles came from the Pakistani side, and said they returned after hovering over Indian territory for a few minutes. An on-ground search operation has been launched in view of the incident, as per the PTI report.

In the Nowshera sector along the LoC, army officials reportedly fired from machine guns upon observing drone movement over Gania-Kalsian village around 6:35 pm. Another drone was seen at the Khabbar village in Teryath in Rajouri district around the same time. A similar flying object with a blinking light was spotted for several minutes over Chak Babral village in Ramgarh sector of Samba, officials said. Yet another suspected drone was observed moving towards Topa in Mankote sector in Poonch district around 6:25 pm, the report added.

The incident comes just days after security forces recovered an arms consignment -- suspected to have been dropped by a drone that originated in Pakistan -- on Friday night. The consignment was seized in Paloora village of Ghagwal near the IB in Samba district. The arms included two pistols, three magazines, 16 rounds, and a grenade, officials reportedly said.