New Delhi: A massive explosion tore through a field in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district early Saturday morning, amid the escalating tensions along India’s western border.
According to reports, the blast occurred at 4.45am in Raju Bela Chhichhra village, leaving a massive crater nearly 40 feet wide and 15 feet deep in an open field. The deafening explosion shattered windows in homes across a 3-4 kilometre radius, sparking panic among villagers who rushed to the site in large numbers.
Hostile drones in Amritsar neutralised
Meanwhile, defence officials confirmed that multiple hostile drones were spotted flying over the Khasa Cantonment area in neighbouring Amritsar around 5am. Air defence units neutralised the enemy drones.
One of the drones crashed in Wadala village near Amritsar, causing fire in a residential courtyard.
Cross-border artillery and mortar shelling continues
People across Jammu city woke up to blast-like sounds as sirens rang out in response to suspected drone incursions. Heavy cross-border artillery and mortar shelling were reported from Rajouri, Poonch, and the Akhnoor sector throughout the night.
Defence sources said that drones were sighted at 26 locations along both the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC) from Baramulla in north Jammu & Kashmir to Bhuj in Gujarat on Friday night. These included areas in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Several of these were suspected armed drones targeting civilian and military assets.
