ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said Thursday its troops shot down a small Indian spy drone after it violated the country’s airspace in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
In a statement, it said Pakistani troops downed the drone when it “intruded 600 meters inside Pakistan’s territory” for surveillance along the Line of Control that divides the Pakistani- and Indian-controlled portions of Kashmir.
The military released a picture of what it said was the downed drone.
There was no immediate comment from India on Thursday.
Kashmir is split between Pakistan and India, both of which claim the territory in its entirety. They have fought two wars over it since their independence from British rule in 1947.
The military has been on high alert since last February, when India launched an airstrike inside Pakistan, saying it targeted Pakistan-based militants responsible for a suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian troops in Indian-administered portion of Kashmir.
Pakistan at the time retaliated and said it shot down two Indian jets. One Indian pilot was captured and later released.
Pakistan's army says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir
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Pakistan's army says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir
- Military's media wing says troops downed the drone after it intruded 600 meters inside Pakistani territory
- Pakistan army has been on high alert in Kashmir since an Indian airstrike on its soil last February
Pakistan says 10 militants killed during counterterror operation in southwest
- Security forces gun down 10 militants belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan outfit, says army’s media wing
- Counterterror offensive takes place as Pakistan faces surging militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed 10 militants during a sanitizing operation in the southwestern Zhob district, the military’s media wing said on Thursday, amid a surge in militant attacks across the country.
Security forces gunned down eight Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Balochistan province’s Zhob district earlier on Tuesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The forces further carried out a sanitization operation in the same district on Wednesday to hunt down the remaining TTP militants, the ISPR said.
“During the conduct of operation, own forces tracked down khwarij on multiple routes and effectively engaged their locations,” the military’s media wing said.
“After an ensuing fire exchange, ten Indian-sponsored khwarij were sent to hell.”
Pakistan’s military and civilian government frequently use the term “khwarij” to describe the TTP. The army said weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the slain militants who were involved in “terrorist” activities.
The military said sanitization operations were being carried out in the area to locate other missing militants.
The security operations take place as Pakistan witnesses a surge in militancy in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces that border Afghanistan.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
Mineral-rich Balochistan has been the site of a low-lying insurgency for the past couple of years. Ethnic Baloch separatist militants accuse the state of depriving the local population of a share in the province’s resources.
Islamabad denies the allegations and says the government is carrying out several development initiatives to uplift the local population in Balochistan.
