Jammu, Sep 2 (IANS): The security forces on Monday recovered weapons dropped by a drone in Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K) Samba district, officials said.

Officials said that troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) and J&K Police on Monday recovered three pistols believed to have been dropped by drones from across the border in the Ramgarh sector of the International Border in Samba district.

"On credible input regarding the drone activity in Mallu Chack area, a joint ambush by the BSF, Police component Jammu and Samba Police was laid in the area."

"On hearing the humming sound of the drone coming from Pakistan's side, security personnel fired some rounds towards the direction of the humming sound and pushed the drone back to the Pakistan side," a BSF spokesman said, adding that after spotting suspected drone movement, a thorough search operation was launched in the general area of Mallu Chack and three pistols were recovered suspected to be dropped by the drone.

Police have registered a case under FIR No. 81/2024 under Sections 113(3)/149 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Section 7/25 of the Arms Act at Ramgarh police station and further investigation is underway.

It must be recalled that the hilly districts of Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur in the Jammu division have witnessed terrorist ambush attacks against the Army, security forces and civilians over the last more than two months.

After reports that a group of foreign terrorists, believed to be 40 to 50 in number, are responsible for these attacks, the Army deployed more than 4,000 trained soldiers drawn from the elite Para commandos and those trained in mountain warfare inside the densely forested areas of those districts.

Terrorists used the element of surprise to carry out ambush attacks and then disappear into the forests of these hilly areas.

The deployment of the Army and the CRPF together with the strengthening of the village defence committees managed by local residents, has deprived the terrorists of using the element of surprise to carry out such attacks.

After the security forces started aggressively going after the terrorists both in the Jammu division and the Kashmir Valley, the terrorists are now increasingly being engaged in exchange of firing with the security forces.

"They either get killed during such encounters or remain on the run. This prevents them from surprising the security forces by carrying out sly attacks," a senior police officer said.