Pakistan Army today offered assistance to locate and rescue 10 Indian soldiers who went missing after an avalanche hit a high-altitude military post in Siachen Glacier.
Pakistan Army Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Aamer Riaz called his Indian counterpart Lt Gen Ranbir Singh today and offered assistance for the rescue operation, the Express Tribune reported.
The Inter-Services public Relations (ISPR) in a statement confirmed the Pakistan DGMO's call to his Indian counterpart.
The deadly avalanche hit the post situated at 19,600 feet in Northern Glacier sector in Ladakh region in the world's highest battlefield yesterday in which 10 Indian army soldiers were trapped. The post is buried under tonnes of snow.
Avalanches and landslides are common at the Siachen Glacier during the winter and temperatures there can drop as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.
In 2012, at least 140 people including Pakistani soldiers and civilians were killed when an avalanche struck an Army camp in the strategically important Gayari sector.
An estimated 8,000 troops have died on the glacier since 1984, almost all of them from avalanches, landslides, frostbite, altitude sickness or heart failure rather than combat, local media reports said.
