Punjab: BSF fires 23 rounds at Pakistani drone forcing it back across border

The firing incident comes after the BSF shot down a China-made drone from Pakistan in Amritsar, on Sunday morning.

Tarn Taran (Punjab): The Border Security Force (BSF) fired 23 rounds at a Pakistani drone that was trying to intrude into the Indian territory near Punjab's Tarn Taran late on Sunday night. The drone was forced to return to the Pakistan side after the BSF jawans fired at it.

The drone was sighted by the BSF's 103rd battalion at the Border Out Post (BOP) of Khemkaran, a border town of district Tarn Taran. The BSF also launched a search operation in the area. According to official sources, BSF's 103rd battalion fired 23 rounds at the unmanned aerial vehicle trying to intrude into Indian territory from Pakistan late on Sunday night.

Even though the drone was forced to return to Pakistan, the BSF troops conducted a search operation to find any contraband items dropped by the drone, the BSF source added. The incident comes close on the heels of the force shooting down a quadcopter which came from Pakistan side in Amritsar.

During the small hours on Sunday, a Pakistani drone was shot down near Shahzada village of Amritsar by the BSF personnel. BSF Public Relations Officer in a statement said the BSF jawans deployed at the border heard the buzzing sound of a drone that was trying to enter into the Indian territory from Pakistan near Shahzada village of Amritsar at around 2.11 am on Sunday.

During the initial search, the BSF troops recovered DJI Matrice, a made-in-China drone in partially damaged condition near Dhusi Dam in Shahzada village. "On 26.02.2023, vigilant troops @BSF_Punjab Frontier intercepted Quadcopter (DJI Matrice) & brought it down in Indian territory near Village - Shahjada, Distt - #Amritsar (Rural) (sic)," the BSF tweeted.

• 26 February 2023
  Alert and Vigilant #SeemaPraharis of @BSF_Punjab intercepted a Quadcopter (DJI Matrice) & brought it down near Village - Shahjada, Distt- Amritsar (Rural).
  Area has been cordoned off and detail search is in progress.#JaiHind pic.twitter.com/kaF1YDOe3b

  — BSF (@BSF_India) February 26, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  26 February 2023
  Alert and Vigilant #SeemaPraharis of @BSF_Punjab intercepted a Quadcopter (DJI Matrice) & brought it down near Village - Shahjada, Distt- Amritsar (Rural).
  Area has been cordoned off and detail search is in progress.#JaiHind pic.twitter.com/kaF1YDOe3b

  — BSF (@BSF_India) February 26, 2023

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  26 February 2023
  Alert and Vigilant #SeemaPraharis of @BSF_Punjab intercepted a Quadcopter (DJI Matrice) & brought it down near Village - Shahjada, Distt- Amritsar (Rural).
  Area has been cordoned off and detail search is in progress.#JaiHind pic.twitter.com/kaF1YDOe3b

  — BSF (@BSF_India) February 26, 2023

The unabated aerial intrusions along the Indian-Pakistan border in Punjab have seen a significant rise. Nearly 230 intrusions were recorded by the BSF in the year 2022. It was 79 and 109 in 2020 and 2021 respectively.