Mysterious balloon-like drone at border areas of Bikaner raises tension amid Indo-Pak conflicts

Amid a high alert at several places along the International Border and the LoC, a balloon-like drone whizzing around in the skies of Rajasthan's Bikaner further added fuel to the already worse situation. The suspected red-coloured airborne device was seen at the border areas near Santosh Nagar village in Rajasthan's Bikaner district on Thursday. After hovering around for some 10 minutes, the mysterious drone went back to the international border of India and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the villagers who suspected that the object might have come from the border, have informed the security agencies and police about the movement. Moreover, the 'War Museum' situated in the military station of the Jaisalmer headquarters has also been closed following the high alert issued at Indo-Pak international border.

In a related note, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has put all air defence systems on alert to deal with the intruders along the international border and Line of Control (LoC).  Security in several states sharing the border with Pakistan has also been beefed up. Police in Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra issued a high alert following the air strikes.

Earlier, a Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down near the International Border in Kutch district of Gujarat. Debris of the UAV was seen near Nanghatad village in Abdasa taluka of Kutch. On hearing a loud sound, villagers went to the spot and found the debris of the UAV.

Read | How Indian Air Force's ancient MiG-21 shot down Pakistan's technically superior F-16?

Border districts were put on high alert after the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday, in a pre-dawn airstrike, bombed terror camps at multiple locations across the Line of Control on the Pakistani side, 12 days after Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group carried out the dastardly Pulwama attack in Kashmir.

They said the IAF's Mirage 2000 fighter jets pounded the terror camps in Balakot, Muzaffarabad and Chakoti in the well-planned strike destroying Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the operation.

Worsening the situation, Pakistan retaliated with sending its US-made F-16 across LOC, targeting India's military establishment. MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were sent to engage with comparatively advanced F-16s. MiG-21 of the IAF even managed to bring down one F-16 of Pakistani Air Force, before being shot down.

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