100 Buried in Pakistan Avalanche
Pakistani Army soldiers with the 20th Lancers Armored Regiment, carry supplies up the 2,400 meter (8,000-foot) mountain near their outpost, Kalpani Base, in Pakistan＇s Dir district, February 19, 2012. An avalanche smashed into a Pakistani army base on a Himalayan glacier close to India, April 7, 2012, burying around 130 soldiers.
Pakistan officials say an avalanche has smashed into a military base on a Himalayan glacier along the India border, burying more than 100 soldiers.
Military authorities say the avalanche hit the base Saturday morning in the mountainous Siachen Glacier region, known as the world＇s highest battlefield. Pakistan and India have military outposts in the region.
Officials say helicopters, sniffer dogs, and troops have been deployed to the remote location to rescue the trapped military personnel.
Pakistan＇s military says the fate of the soldiers was not immediately clear.
Military experts say Siachen＇s inhospitable climate and avalanche-prone terrain have claimed more lives than gunfire.
Siachen, which is 6,000 meters high, is in northern Kashmir. Kashmir is claimed in full by Pakistan and India.
The nuclear armed rivals have fought three wars since the partition of the subcontinent after independence from Britain in 1947. Two of the wars have been over Kashmir.
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