Army intensifies surveillance along LoC amid surge in drone, suspicious object sightings
The Indian Army has stepped up surveillance along the Jammu and Kashmir border amid rising drone and balloon sightings from Pakistan. Officials say these intrusions aim to distract security forces, but infiltration attempts by terror groups like LeT and JeM have been thwarted
New Delhi: The Indian Army has intensified surveillance and monitoring along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir as drone sightings have gone up considerably. The heightened surveillance comes in the wake of Pakistan trying to push more drones and balloons resembling aircraft into Jammu and Kashmir.
The police in Jammu and Kashmir spotted and then seized a balloon that resembles an aircraft. The police found that the object had the inscription of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on it. The preliminary probe found no electrical or electronic components that were fixed on it. The police are looking for more details into the case and the probe is ongoing an official informed.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that the object did not cause any harm. However, it cannot be considered to be a stray incident. This development comes in the wake of the Indian Army thwarting multiple drone intrusions from Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC).
Most of these incidents were reported at the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. In recent months, the Army has noticed that the Pakistanis have been making multiple attempts to send drones into India. Last month, at least two quadcopters attempted to breach the Indian airspace along the LoC in the Poonch area. This has led the Army to conduct swift counter drone actions.
Officials say that they do not see these incidents as isolated ones. Another official said that what has been different this time is that most of these drones have not intended to smuggle in narcotics or arms. The intention has also not been to harm to carry out surveillance.
The official added that this is a deliberate ploy on part of the Pakistanis to keep the Indian security agencies engaged. This is meant to cause a distraction so that the launch pads at Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) can be activated and infiltrations can take place.
Since ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Pakistanis have not managed to infiltrate a single terrorist into India. An Intelligence estimate states that there are over a 1,000 terrorists of both the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad who are waiting at the launchpads.
Many have made multiple attempts to enter India, but all such attempts have been thwarted. This is leading to a sense of desperation among these terror groups. The Intelligence agencies say that Pakistan is looking to send in more such suspicious objects into India.
Currently they are coming in smaller numbers, but this could increase dramatically. They would want to keep the security agencies engaged for a longer period of time and then choose an opportune time to push multiple terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir.
The ISI is desperate to get operations in Jammu and Kashmir up and running. It is under immense pressure from the terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Earlier, the Pakistan Army would indulge in firing to distract the Indian armed forces.
Another official explained that Pakistan is finding it hard to beat the security systems in place at the border. The security forces operate on multiple layers, which are designed in such a way that it can handle intrusions, firing and also prevent infiltration, all at the same time. Hence Pakistan is bound to come up with various tricks to distract the security agencies and then try and get the infiltration process going, the official also added.
