Western Border Vulnerabilities
On October 17, 2026, Security Forces (SFs) foiled an infiltration attempt along the LoC, killing two terrorists in an encounter in the Keran sector of Kupwara District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
On October 12, 2026, four terrorists, including top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Mohammad Faizan, were killed in a landmine blast while attempting to infiltrate the Nangi Takri / Satwal-Naki area of the Krishna Ghati sector in the Poonch District of J&K. All of them were residents of the Hajira tehsil (Revenue unit) in the Poonch District of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
On May 12, 2026, one unidentified LeT terrorist was killed when Army troops detected a group of infiltrators crossing over from PoJK in the Mankote forward area within the Krishna Ghati Sector.
On March 15, 2026, Security Forces (SFs) killed one terrorist along the (LoC) in the Buchhar area of the Uri sector in Baramulla District, foiling an infiltration attempt.
On March 10, 2026, the Army killed a Pakistani terrorist, Hamza Yousaf, a LeT launching operative, and injured his associate during a gun battle along the LoC in the Jhangar area of the Nowshera sector in Rajouri District.
Since the beginning of 2026 till October 18, SFs neutralised ten infiltration attempts in J&K, reported in Kupwara, Samba, Baramulla, Poonch, and Rajouri Districts. Another five incidents in which no killing of terrorists was reported included:
On August 28, 2026, the Army foiled an infiltration attempt along the LoC in Rajouri. The intruder opened fire, prompting retaliatory firing by the troops. The infiltrator reportedly escaped and is believed to be hiding in the area.
On July 7, 2026, Indian Army troops foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in the Hathlanga area of the Uri sector in Baramulla. Soldiers spotted a suspicious individual carrying a backpack moving towards the fence from the PoJK side and opened fire to thwart the attempt. The infiltrator dropped the bag and fled back across the border. The subsequent search operation led to the recovery of two AK-56 rifles with magazines, 256 rounds of ammunition, one Tokarev/Type-54 pistol with magazines, five hand grenades, and miscellaneous items.
On March 4, 2026, the Indian Army opened fire on suspected terrorists attempting to infiltrate across the LoC in Rajouri. Officials disclosed that infiltrators were detected trying to cross into Indian territory from the Turkandi forward area.
Separately, on the same day, Army troops foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in the Bhimber Gali Sector in Poonch.
On February 19, 2026, Indian Army troops foiled a terrorist infiltration attempt along the LoC in the Nathua Tibba area of the Sunderbani Sector in Rajouri.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia terrorism portal (SATP), at least ten infiltration attempts along the LoC have been foiled since the beginning of 2026. In five of these incidents, nine terrorists were killed. In the corresponding period of 2025, 16 terrorists were killed, with another two neutralised in the remaining months of that year. The figures for previous years stand at 17 terrorists killed in 2024, 38 in 2023, and 22 in 2022, while attempting to infiltrate J&K. The highest number of terrorists killed was in 2000, when 168 militants were neutralised. The lowest figure to date was registered in 2019, with six terrorists killed. SATP data indicates that at least 1,588 terrorists have been killed while attempting infiltration since March 2000.
Official data, primarily from the Ministry of Defence’s Annual Report 2025-26 released on 13 September 2026, indicates a significant decline in cross-border terrorist infiltration into J&K in recent years. In 2025, SFs neutralised 19 terrorists in the Union Territory (UT), including eight Pakistani nationals. Along the LoC, the Army recorded six infiltration attempts, all of which were foiled, resulting in the neutralisation of 12 Pakistani terrorists. Another notable development was the sharp decline in local recruitment, with only one local youth reportedly joining terrorist ranks in 2025. Reported recruitment into terrorist ranks fell from 146 local youths in 2021 to 121 in 2022, 19 in 2023, four in 2024 and one in 2025. These indicators suggest that the threat is changing rather than disappearing, with a shift towards foreign (Pakistani) terrorists and the withdrawal of local populations from terrorist conspiracies and violence. Further, although infiltration attempts along the LoC have declined, the border remains a sensitive security zone due to the persistent threat of Pakistan-based terrorist groups and the potential for renewed infiltration.
India shares a land border with Pakistan that runs through three states – Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat – and two Union Territories – J&K and Ladakh. The LoC is one of India’s most sensitive borders with Pakistan due to persistent terrorist activity and repeated infiltration attempts by Pakistan-based terrorist groups, including LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), from PoJK. The April 22, 2025, attack on tourists at Baisaran, in Pahalgam, was a major example of the continuing threat from Pakistan-based terrorism. Twenty-six persons were killed, including one local civilian. On December 15, 2025, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced that it had chargesheeted Pakistan-based LeT, its front, The Resistance Front (TRF), and five other accused in the case. The Agency’s investigation identified the three Pakistani terrorists killed in July 2025 as the attackers.
Meanwhile, suspected cross-border activities along the IB in the Jammu region, including drone-enabled narcotics and weapons smuggling, present additional security challenges. The Ministry of Defence’s annual report stated that it recorded nine drone intrusions along the J&K IB, as well as 854 along the Punjab and Rajasthan IB sectors. Across all IB sectors covered, 237 drones were brought down, and 281.41 kilograms of contraband and several firearms were recovered in incidents likely involving drone delivery.
After J&K, Punjab remains the second most sensitive stretch of India’s IB with Pakistan. On October 2, 2026, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel shot dead two suspected Pakistani nationals while foiling an alleged infiltration attempt near Rajoke village along the IB in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) observed
This incident highlights a clear pattern of repeated cross-border movement by armed narcotics syndicates operating from Pakistan. Government of Pakistan was urged to investigate these cross-border infiltration and drug smuggling activities and the complicity of the Pakistan Border Guarding Force therein, and to take appropriate remedial measures.
On October 10, 2026, MEA summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission to lodge India’s strong protest over the continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration from Pakistan.
Another incident was reported on March 10, 2026, when BSF killed one Pakistani intruder in the Khemkaran sector of Tarn Taran.
According to data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), since the beginning of 2026 till October 18, three Pakistani intruders were killed along the Punjab border, adding to three in 2025, one in 2024, one in 2023 and two in 2020. These infiltration attempts occurred in the districts of Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Pathankot, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur.
The primary reason for infiltration along the Punjab border is narcotics and weapons trafficking. Pakistan-based narcotics syndicates frequently send human couriers or attempt physical crossings to deliver consignments, even though drones have emerged as the preferred method. These drugs finance criminal gangs, organised crime networks, and terrorist modules operating in Punjab and other parts of India. A closely related motive is the smuggling of pistols, ammunition and other weapons, which are supplied to gangsters, criminal syndicates and residual radical elements in the state. Some infiltrators seek to connect with local handlers, gang networks or over-ground workers already active in Punjab. In some cases, the objectives may include reconnaissance, establishing contacts, supporting larger smuggling operations, as well as espionage. Intelligence assessments occasionally indicate broader designs – allegedly involving Inter-service Intelligence (ISI) -backed elements – aimed at destabilising Punjab by promoting crime, drug trafficking and low-level radical activity.
Human infiltration attempts on the Rajasthan and Gujarat stretches of the India-Pakistan Border IB are significantly lower in volume compared to Punjab or the LoC. These sectors face different challenges due to the vast desert terrain (Thar Desert) in Rajasthan, and coastal and marshy areas in Gujarat (including the Rann of Kutch). The dominant threat in both states is smuggling, especially narcotics and weapons, rather than classic terrorist infiltration. On October 13, 2026, the Rajasthan Police’s Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) recovered a consignment containing nearly seven kilograms of RDX, two Turkiye-made handguns and over 600 rounds of ammunition in the Rawla subdivision of Sri Ganganagar District in Rajasthan, dropped by drone from across the border with Pakistan. Drones have increasingly dominated material transfers across the border, reducing the need for physical human crossings.
Infiltration across the LoC and along the J&K and Punjab sectors of the IB constitutes a persistent security challenge. Pakistan’s ISI provides training, arms, and financial support to designated terrorist organisations which are used to undermine peace and stability in India, while the growing menace of cross-border narcotics smuggling and the increasing use of drones have emerged as significant new threats to India’s border security.