Search continues for 5 jawans, one from HP

Srinagar, December 13

The Army on Wednesday said it was continuing the search for five soldiers who went missing in two snow-linked incidents yesterday near the Line of Control in north Kashmir.

Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said the search operations were continuing in remote parts of Kupwara and Bandipora districts, where the five soldiers had gone missing. “The searches are on, there is no update.”

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Among the five missing, two soldiers had slipped down a slope in the Nowgam sector of Kupwara while three others had gone missing from a forward post in the Kanzalwan sub-sector of Gurez in Bandipora district. Both incidents had taken place “during heavy snowfall” in these remote areas.

The Gurez and Nowgam sectors in north Kashmir are key infiltration routes and are guarded by the Army round the year. The rugged mountainous areas remain cut off from the rest of the Valley during winter as heavy snowfall blocks access to them.

Meanwhile, a report from Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh identified one of the missing soldiers as Rifleman Shiv  Singh of Gullerwala village. — TNS