May 13 | Jammu & Punjab
On Monday night (May 12, 2025), drones were spotted flying near the International Border in Jammu’s Samba district and Punjab’s Jalandhar district for a few hours.
The Army later said that everything was calm and under control, and no enemy drones were being seen. Earlier, the Army had mentioned that security forces were trying to deal with the suspected drones in Samba.
The drone sightings happened just hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first speech following Operation Sindoor and a meeting between top military officials of India and Pakistan.
The Army told the public not to panic. “A few suspected drones were seen near Samba, and we are handling it,” they said.
As a safety measure, lights were turned off in several areas, including Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Jammu. According to sources, even the lights at the Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine and its path were switched off.
These incidents happened during a tense period between India and Pakistan. Recently, fighting began in the northern Kashmir districts of Kupwara and Baramulla and later spread to Rajouri, Poonch, Akhnoor, and other parts of Jammu. These areas — Baramulla, Kupwara, Poonch, Rajouri, and Jammu — were affected the most.
This recent violence has once again put pressure on the ceasefire agreement made in February 2021, which was already weak due to repeated violations by Pakistan along the 740-kilometre Line of Control (LoC).
In Punjab’s Jalandhar district, the armed forces shot down a suspected surveillance drone near Mand village around 9:20 p.m. District officer Himanshu Aggarwal said a special team is looking for the drone’s debris.
By 10:45 p.m., Aggarwal confirmed there were no new drone sightings after 10 p.m. and asked people to stay calm and avoid going near any debris. He also asked people not to burst firecrackers, which had been reported in some areas.
Lights were also turned off in parts of Suranassi as a safety step. “We are checking the drone reports, but there is no complete blackout. The situation is under control,” Aggarwal added.
Punjab shares a 553-kilometre-long border with Pakistan.
Just two days earlier, on May 10, India and Pakistan had agreed to stop all fighting on land, air, and sea after four days of serious drone and missile attacks that had nearly led to war.
Blackout safety measures were also taken in Amritsar and some areas in the Hoshiarpur district. One IndiGo flight heading to Amritsar had to return to Delhi because the Amritsar airport was shut down due to the blackout.
FOR MORE NEWS VISIT QUESTIQA.IN