2 Dec 2012

Fatal avalanches in Kashmir

12:14 pm on 2 December 2012

At least 11 troops were killed and 10 others are missing after they were hit by avalanches in Kashmir on Friday.

The avalanches struck in the mountainous Neelum Valley, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The BBC reports the soldiers were searching for colleagues hit by the first avalanche when they were struck by a second fall in Dana Tajian, 130km from the town of Muzaffarabad, killing at least nine more.

The avalanches struck close to the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, a de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars in the Himalayas. The BBC reports both sides have troops stationed in the region, where a ceasefire has been in place since 2003.

In April, 140 Pakistani soldiers were buried by a wall of snow at a base on the Siachen Glacier high in the mountains.

In February, at least 16 Indian soldiers were killed when two avalanches swept through their camps.