On Sunday night, two drones were seen hovering near a military base in Jammu, hours after two explosive-laden drones crashed into the high-security Indian Air Force station at Jammu airport. On Sunday night and again on Monday morning, the incidents occurred.

Between 11 and 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, an army sentry at Army Garrison at Kalu Chack noticed an object hovering over brigade headquarters. When the quick reaction teams noticed the suspected drone, they opened fire. Around 3 a.m., the drone was seen by the sentry again, and quick response troops opened fire to bring it down.

The whole area outside the military station was cordoned off immediately and a massive search operation was launched, nothing objectionable has been found on the ground so far.

“High alert was sounded and quick reaction teams engaged them with firing. Both the drones flew away. A major threat was thwarted by the alertness and proactive approach of troops. Security forces are on high alert and search operation is in progress,” Lt Col Devender Anand, PRO, Defence, said.

The latest incident comes barely a day after a drone, in a first-of-its-kind strike, dropped two bombs at IAF station in Jammu, causing minor injuries to two personnel. The first blast ripped off the roof of a single-storey building at the technical area of the airport manned by the IAF in the Satwari area of the city. The second one was on the ground, the officials said.

The explosions were heard up to a kilometer away and caused some panic among residents of these areas. The aerial distance between Jammu airport and the international border is 14 km. Investigators are trying to ascertain the flight path of the two drones.