Jammu, June 12 (IANS) Two soldiers were injured in an accidental grenade explosion along the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K’s Poonch district on Friday, officials said.

The accidental grenade explosion occurred in the forward area along the LoC today during a training exercise, the officials said.

“Two soldiers sustained injuries in the incident. Both injured soldiers were immediately shifted to the 425 Army Field Hospital, Poonch, for treatment. Further details on their condition and the incident are awaited,” an official said.

J&K has a 740-km-long LoC situated in the Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara districts of the Valley, as well as the Poonch, Rajouri and partly in the Jammu district of the Jammu division.

J&K also has a 240-km-long international border situated in Samba, Kathua, and Jammu districts.

The LoC is guarded by the army, while the international border is guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF).

Both are deployed to prevent infiltration, exfiltration, smuggling, and drone activity initiated from across the border by terror outfits with the help of Pakistan forces.

Drones are used by terror outfits to drop payloads of arms, ammunition, cash and drugs into the Indian side of the border. These payloads are picked up by overground workers (OGWs) of terrorist outfits and then passed on to the terrorists to sustain terrorism in the Union Territory.

Hi-tech anti-drone equipment has been deployed all along the LoC and the international border in J&K to check the menace of drones. Since the deployment of this hi-tech anti-drone equipment, drone activity initiated from across the border has significantly come down.

Even then, occasionally, these drones are still used by terror handlers sitting in Pakistan to sustain terrorism. In their coordinated anti-terrorist operations in the hinterland, J&K Police and the security forces are targeting terrorists, OGWs, and their sympathisers.

–IANS

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