BSF troops open fire at Pakistani drone near International Border in Jammu, force it to return

This is the second such incident to take place within a week

Border Security Force (BSF) personnel deployed along the International Border (IB) in Jammu fired several rounds at a drone coming from the Pakistani side on Saturday morning, forcing it to retreat, an official said.

A massive search operation was launched in the area to ensure no weapons or narcotics were dropped by the flying object, he said.

"Today in the morning, alert BSF troops observed a blinking light (in the sky) and immediately fired at it in the Arnia area, forcing the Pakistani flying object to return. A combined search operation is being carried out in the area," BSF Deputy Inspector General, Jammu frontier, S.P. Sandhu said.

Officials said the Pakistani drone was spotted by the border guards around 4.45 a.m. and some eight rounds were fired by them to bring it down.

After hovering for a few minutes in the air, the drone flew back, the officials said, adding the search operation is going on in the area falling under the R.S. Pura sector.

This is the second such incident to take place within seven days. On May 7, the BSF had opened fire at a Pakistani drone in the same area shortly after it entered the Indian territory.

Drone activity from Pakistan has increased after the BSF detected an underground cross-border tunnel in the Chak Faquira area of Samba district on May 4.