Srinagar: After suspending trekking and camping activities in parts of Anantnag and Baramulla districts, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has imposed restrictions on outdoor activities in the high altitude areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.The prohibitory orders have been imposed at a time when security forces are reporting heightened activity of suspected drones along the LoC and International Border in Jammu region, prompting India to lodge a protest with Pakistan.Multiple drone sightings have been reported by the security forces this week in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Pir Panjal region, which fall along the LoC, as well as Samba district, abutting the International Border between India and Pakistan in J&K.In an order on January 12, Poonch deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Sharma, citing “security issues”, imposed prohibitions on “unrestricted movement” of private individuals in “high altitude and forested areas” of the border district.“Trekking, camping, hiking and similar outdoor pursuits in high altitude areas are likely to adversely affect public safety and may also lead to law and order complications,” the order, issued by Sharma under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanahita (BNSS), said.The ex-parte order citing “inputs from security agencies and field functionaries” has been imposed in the district for two months amid concerns over “serious risk to public safety due to difficult terrain, adverse weather conditions and other unforeseen hazards”.The deputy commissioner has directed the senior superintendent of police (Poonch) to “strictly” implement the prohibitory order while warning of action under relevant provisions of law against the offenders.‘At least eight suspected drone sightings’Earlier this week, the army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said that at least eight suspected drones were sighted along the LoC and IB in J&K since Saturday, terming the intrusions as “unacceptable”.In one instance, security forces claimed that two pistols, three magazines, 16 rounds and a grenade wrapped in yellow tape were recovered in Samba district on Saturday which were dropped by a suspected drone that flew into the Indian territory from Pakistan.Security forces have also said that drones were being used to supply drugs from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir.A red alert has been sounded along the border areas following the suspected drone intrusions.According to reports, these drones hover over the Indian territory for some time before returning to their places of origin. In some cases, the intrusions have forced the army and other security forces to open fire at these flying objects.Dwivedi said that India’s director general of military operations had raised the issue with his Pakistani counterpart over a phone call on Tuesday.BackgroundPoonch was pounded by artillery and heavy arms firing when a military conflict broke out between India and Pakistan in May last year, making it the worst affected district where widespread loss of civilian life and property was reported.The latest order by the Poonch administration is the second of its kind since April last year, when officials banned outdoor activities across Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.The ban coincided with a massive joint search operation launched by the J&K police, army and paramilitary forces in the higher reaches of the Union territory to find the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack.Drones were extensively used by Pakistan during the four-day conflict which broke out on May 7, when India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to target suspected terrorist bases across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.The operation was launched as a retaliation to the Pahalgam attack on April 22 in which at least 26 civilians, including two foreigners from UAE and Nepal and a Kashmiri horse attender, were killed by the proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists.