Border states battle drone strikes

HT tracks some of the debris of missiles and drones found along border districts, as Pak continued its intense shelling on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday

- Prawesh Lama

NEW DELHI: At least seven terrorists, suspected to be part of the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were killed as the Border Security Force (BSF) foiled a major infiltration attempt from across the India-Pakistan border in the Samba sector of Jammu, the force said in a statement on Friday.

During the operation, BSF also inflicted extensive damage on a Pakistan Rangers border outpost, from where heavy gunfire was supporting the infiltrators on Thursday late night.

"In Samba sector of Jammu Frontier BSF, in the intervening night of May 8 and 9, an infiltration attempt by a big group of terrorists has been tried, which was detected by surveillance grid. This infiltration bid was supported by fire from Pak Rangers post Dhandhar," a BSF spokesperson said.

"Alert troops of BSF neutralised the infiltration bid, killing at least seven terrorists and caused extensive damage to the Pak Post Dhandhar," the spokesperson added.

A second BSF officer said the group of nearly 12 infiltrators, suspected to be affiliated to Pakistan-based JeM, had tried to infiltrate into the country taking cover of the dark and the attempted drone incursions in other parts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Punjab.

The entire western frontier from Gujarat to J&K has been put on high alert in the backdrop of attempts by Pakistan to target civilian settlements amid escalating tension between the two countries.

On Friday afternoon, Union home minister Amit Shah held a meeting with the heads of the BSF and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to review the security situation.