The Border Security Force today said it has detected a cross-border tunnel along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district and claimed to have foiled the plans of Pakistan-based terrorists to disrupt the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.
An alert has been sounded in the Jammu region.
The 150-metres-long tunnel was detected in an area under the Chak Faquira border outpost in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba on Wednesday evening, BSF officials said.
"With the detection of this tunnel, BSF-Jammu has foiled the nefarious designs of Pakistan-based terrorists to disrupt the upcoming Amarnath yatra," Border Security Force DIG SPS Sandhu said.
The tunnel was freshly dug and originated from the Pakistan side. Its opening was about 2 feet and so far 21 sandbags, used to strengthen the exit of the tunnel, have been recovered, he said.
Mr Sandhu said the tunnel will be searched in detail today.
The detection of the tunnel comes nearly a fortnight after security forces gunned down two suicide bombers after they attacked a CISF bus and killed an assistant sub-inspector in the Sunjwan area of Jammu on April 22.
An official said that the underground tunnel is believed to have been used by the two suicide bombers of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group to sneak into India.
An official, on condition of anonymity, said, "A newly dug tunnel at a distance of 150 metres from the International Border and 50 metres from the border fence was detected opposite Pakistani post Chaman Khurd (Fiaz) which is 900 metres from the Indian side."
He said the opening of the tunnel was about 300 metres from the border outpost Chak Faquira and 700 metres from the last Indian village.
Inspector General of BSF Jammu Frontier, DK Boora lauded the devotion and dedication of the troops in detecting the tunnel and said this was the fifth one detected in less than one-and-half years.
"This shows the evil strategy of Pakistan establishment to create trouble in India," Mr Boora told reporters in Jammu.
The BSF has launched a massive drive to detect any tunnel along the International Border following the April 22 encounter in the Sunjwan area of Jammu.
This was the first such structure unearthed by the BSF beneath the International Border in the past 16 months, taking the overall number to 11 in the past decade. Last year, the force had detected two tunnels in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district in January.
BSF is manning about 192 km of IB and Line of Control (LoC) alongside the Army and is keeping a tight vigil to scuttle any attempt of infiltration of terrorists, smuggling of weapons and narcotics and drone activity from across the border.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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