Cross-border tunnels on the India–Pakistan boundary for infiltration of terrorists and drones for dropping arms and ammunition on this side of the international border (IB) have become a challenge for the Indian security forces.

Tunnel after tunnel are being detected at the IB by the BSF.

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Pakistani security agencies have started building tunnels and using Chinese drones to bypass the border fencing by India that had to a great extent helped curbing infiltration of terrorists and also dumping arms and ammunition for them by the ISI and Pakistani army.

The engineering wings of the Pakistani agencies appear to have professionaly built these tunnels about 30 ft deep from the surface.

BSF and the Army have already installed highly sensitive devises and night vision cameras on the IB and the Line of Control (LoC) to detect infiltration of terrorists. However to bypass such gadgets, the tunneling process has been done by the enemy. Similarly, drones are flown at a low height to just cross the border fence and drop arms and ammunition for terrorists. Several dumps of AK47 rifles, Chinese grenades and other explosives have been recovered along the IB and LoC.

Atleast ten cross-border tunnels have been detected on the IB during past some time in the three districts of Jammu division, Kathua, Samba and Jammu, where the soil is soft and as such digging tunnel is easy.

DG of BSF Rakesh Asthana and the J&K DGP Dilbag Singh had recently said that drones being used by Pakistan to drop arms and ammunition on this side of the border are a new challenge for security forces.

Pakistan and its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) have started using bigger drones to enhance the capacity to smuggle arms and ammunition across the border in India’s Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

During his tenure as Home Minister, Rajnath Singh inaugurated the pilot project of the laser technology based Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) on the IB in Jammu.

The CIBMS aimed to provide high-tech surveillance system that would even during fog or snow storm create an invisible laser barrier on land, water, air and also underground to help BSF detect and foil infiltration bids even in difficult terrains.

This was expected to plug infiltration through vulnerable patches.
India is also pushing hard to build its anti-drone capacities to check the menace.

Air dropping of arms and ammunition was first reported in Punjab and subsequently extended to Jammu and Kashmir.

BSF shot down a Hexacopter drone with a payload of five-and-a-half kilograms including a sophisticated US-made M4 semi-automatic carbine and seven grenades at Rathua village in Kathua district in June last.

Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were arrested few days ago along with a cache of weapons airdropped near the LoC in Rajouri district.

The BSF has launched a massive anti-tunneling drive on the entire IB. Due to its constant search and active domination BSF troops also detected 2 terror tunnels dug by Pakistan in Samba area on 28 August and 22 November last year.