MUZAFFARABAD: Pak­­­i­stan Army troops shot down an Indian spy drone along the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Sunday, in what was the ninth such shooting in the current year, the military’s media affairs wing said.

“Pakistan army troops shot down an Indian spying quadcopter in Hot Spring sector along LoC. The quadcopter had intruded 850 metres on Pakistani side of the LoC,” said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar in a tweet.

“This is ninth Indian quadcopter shot down by Pakistan army troops this year,” he added.

Hot Spring sector is locally known as Tatta Pani sector and is part of Kotli district.

According to officials, Indian troops are frequently sending spy drones for aerial photography of Pakistan Army posts and civilian areas as part of their intelligence gathering operations and target selection before carrying out cross LoC shelling.

In the last such shooting, Pakistan Army troops had downed an Indian reconnaissance drone in Khanjar sector in tehsil Samahni of Bhimber district on June 5.

Meanwhile, Indian troops continued ceasefire violations across the restive LoC on Sunday, which left one woman injured in Samahni tehsil of Bhimber district.

According to Mir Mohammad Abid, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bhimber, splinters of a mortar shell hit the 36-year-old victim, Nargis Bibi, wife of Amin, in the chest in Bandala area at about 4:30pm.

After being provided first aid by local army personnel she was evacuated to District Headquarters Hospital in Bhimber, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2020