Two armed Pakistani intruders were shot dead by the Border Security Force in two separate incidents along the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab on Tuesday morning, officials said.

The first infiltration bid was detected in the Gurdaspur sector around 8 am and the troops subsequently recovered the body of a man along with a weapon there.

"At about 0830 hours, BSF troops of border post Channa in Gurdaspur sector observed suspected movement of an armed Pak intruder ahead of the fence.

"The suspected intruder was challenged and neutralised by the troops," a BSF spokesperson said.

The second killing took place near Dariya Mansoor village in Amritsar.

"Troops challenged the miscreant, but he did not stop and continued moving ahead. Sensing an imminent threat and to stop further misadventure, BSF troops fired upon the miscreant in self-defence, killing him on the spot.

"A gun was found near the body of the Pakistani miscreant and an extensive search of the area is in progress," the spokesperson said.

The intruder was found armed with a sophisticated modified 'Pump Action' shotgun, which can fire more than one shot.

These were the first incidents in 2023 where Pakistani intruders were killed at the 2,289 km-long border that runs along Jammu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab on India's western flank.

In 2022, the BSF killed two infiltrators and apprehended 23 Pakistanis along the 553-km-long India-Pakistan international border in Punjab.

The force also recovered 1 kg of suspected heroin from a drone it retrieved on Monday, which it had shot down in the Kassowal area of the Gurdaspur sector on December 31.