New Delhi: Suspected Pakistani Drones Detected Along Border as JeM Chief Makes Threat Claims
Indian security forces detected movement of suspected drones across multiple forward positions along the International Border and Line of Control in Samba, Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Officials reported that at least five flying objects suspected to be drones were observed hovering on the Indian side before retreating toward Pakistan, India Today reported.
Security agencies elevated alert levels and initiated ground-based search operations following the drone sightings in forward areas, according to PTI reports citing officials.
In the Nowshera sector along the Line of Control in Rajouri district, Indian troops reportedly engaged the aerial object with small and light machine gun fire after detecting drone movement over the Ganis-Kalsian village area at approximately 6:35 PM.
#BREAKING: Indian Army has fired in the air after observing drone movement from Pakistan towards India’s Village Gania, Kaldian of Nowshera of Jammu & Kashmir. MMG and LMG fired at the drones. Yesterday a Pakistani drone had also dropped a consignment in Samba of J&K. pic.twitter.com/vKFRl2TCMf
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) January 11, 2026
Around 7:15 PM, a blinking light resembling a drone was observed over Chak Babral village in the Ramgarh sector of Samba, while another drone-like object was seen moving from the direction of Tain toward Topa in the Mankote sector along the LoC in Poonch district at approximately 6:25 PM, PTI reported, citing officials.
On Friday night, security forces recovered a cache of arms allegedly dropped by a Pakistani drone in Paloora village of Ghagwal near the International Border in Samba district. The recovery included two pistols, three magazines, 16 rounds and a grenade.
The drone activities occurred as an audio clip surfaced on social media platforms purportedly featuring Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief and founder Masood Azhar claiming that the outfit has thousands of suicide bombers ready to carry out attacks. However, neither the authenticity nor the time of the audio’s recording could be independently verified.
In the audio, Azhar makes sweeping claims about his cadre, saying they are not one, two, or a hundred, not even a thousand, and goes on to boast that revealing the actual number would cause an uproar in global media. He further claims that these recruits only seek shahadat (martyrdom) and do not want any material rewards or personal gains.
The audio appears to be more of a rant than a credible threat since Indian forces had struck Jaish establishments inside Pakistan, including its headquarters in Bahawalpur, in which several of Azhar’s close relatives were also killed.
Jaish had indirectly acknowledged these losses in September last year when a senior commander of the terror outfit admitted in a video that members of Azhar’s family were killed during India’s strike on Bahawalpur. The strike under Operation Sindoor was part of India’s response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 innocent civilians were brutally killed by terrorists.
Indian strikes had reduced multiple terror sites to rubble. Around 10 of Azhar’s relatives, including his sister, her husband, a nephew, a niece, and children from his extended family, were among those killed in the strike on the Bahawalpur facility. Several of his aides also died in the pre-dawn attack.
Masood Azhar has not been seen publicly since 2019, when his Bahawalpur hideout was hit by a powerful blast, but he survived.
Azhar, a UN-designated terrorist, is the mastermind behind some of the deadliest attacks in India, including the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 44 CRPF personnel.
Intelligence inputs in recent months have suggested that he may be operating far from Bahawalpur now.
The audio has surfaced after Lashkar-e-Taiba’s deputy chief Saifullah Kasuri was captured on video claiming that the Pakistan army invited him to lead funeral prayers of its soldiers after Operation Sindoor last May. Both clips were posted on Telegram and X by pro-ISI accounts as propaganda after devastating losses during Operation Sindoor.
Pakistani Jaish e Mohammad UN Designated Terrorist Masood Azhar claims that more than 1000 suicide bombers are ready pressuring him to allow them to infiltrate India and the real numbers will shock the global media.
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) January 11, 2026
He says they are highly motivated to carry out terror attacks. pic.twitter.com/HGFPiC1mt0
These activities in Jammu and Kashmir came nearly eight months after a border standoff between India and Pakistan in May last year, after Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to a terrorist attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives, targeting terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, concluding with a ceasefire on May 10.