Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir): Army on Friday claimed to have fired at a drone from Pakistan along Line of Control in Baloni area in KG Sector of Mankote in Poonch district forcing the Unmanned Air Vehicle to return to the Pakistani side, local inputs said. Local inputs quoting Defence sources said that at around 0710 hours, soldiers deployed at the sector noticed a Pakistani drone near one of the army posts in Mankote Mendhar area.
“After seeing the suspected drone, the Army fired a few rounds forcing the drone to return back,” they said. This is a developing story and further details are awaited in this regard. It is pertinent to mention here that a similar Pakistani drone being spotted along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir was reported last week.
It can be recalled that the Pakistani drone was spotted flying near the Line of Control in Mendhar area of Poonch district. Army sources said that the movement of the drone was picked up in the Nar Mankote area of Mendhar on Sunday Feb 11. After the alert troops spotted the enemy drone, the troops guarding the LoC fired at least three rounds to bring it down.
In the face of firing by own troops, the Unmanned Air Vehicle was forced to return to the Pakistani side after briefly hovering over the Indian territory. A massive search operation was launched in the area along the Line of Control after the incident. In a bid to tackle the threat of drones and weapons and drugs smuggling through them, the Jammu and Kashmir police recently announced a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh to locals informing on drones flown from across the border to drop narcotics, arms or explosive materials, leading to the recovery of the material.
