The Pakistan Army has shot down an Indian quadcopter Saturday that intruded into its airspace along the disputed Kashmir border.
“The quadcopter intruded 500 meters on Pakistan’s side of LoC,” the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement. The LoC is a de facto border that divides the disputed Himalayan valley between the two nuclear neighbors.
Read more: Indian quadcopter downed by Pakistan army
It was the second quadcopter shot down by Pakistan in the last three days, the statement added.
“The unprovoked act was responded befittingly wherein own troops shot down the quadcopter,” ISPR had said.
#PakistanArmy troops shot down an Indian spying #quadcopter today in Chakothi Sector along LOC.
The quadcopter intruded 500 meters on Pakistan’s side of #LOC. Similarly, on January 1, 2021, another Indian quadcopter was shot down by Pakistan Army in Nausheri Sector along LOC.— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) January 2, 2021
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According to the military’s media wing, Pakistan’s border troops shot down 16 Indian quadcopters along the LoC last year amid escalating tensions between the two rivals, which are locked in a slew of disputes, mainly Kashmir.
Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir are held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver is also held by China.
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Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965, and 1971 — two of them regarding Kashmir.
Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have been killed and tortured in the conflict that flared up in 1989.