The Indian Army has recovered a Pakistan Army Remington M24 sniper rifle as well as an anti-personnel mine manufactured by the Pakistan Ordnance Factory along the Amarnath Yatra route in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), defence journalist Shiv Aroor has reported.

The details were made public in a press conference addressed by Commander of the Srinagar-based 15th Corps, Lt Gen K J S Dhillon. He said that Pakistan was desperate to try and disrupt the Amarnath Yatra, and the Army had also received specific intelligence about terror threats along the pilgrimage route.

The last few days have seen a massive uptick in troop deployments to the Kashmir Valley, with 380 companies of central paramilitary forces being moved to the region in the past week. This has led to widespread speculation, ranging from their being a heightened terror threat perception to the possible removal of Article 35A in the coming days.

The Amarnath Yatra itself has been suspended since 31 July (Wednesday) due to inclement weather causing a blockade on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.