First deadly clash on the disputed border since four Assam Rifles jawans were ambushed and killed by Chinese border guards in October 1975.
In a steep escalation of the ongoing Sino-Indian border face-off in eastern Ladakh, soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) attacked and killed 20 Indian soldiers, including a colonel, on Monday night.This is the first deadly clash on the 3,488-kilometre disputed border since four Assam Rifles jawans were ambushed and killed by Chinese border guards in October 1975.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, the army said: “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday (Monday) night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”
Late on Tuesday evening, another statement from the army said: “17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total of those killed in action to 20.”
The statement also said: “Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020.” There were unconfirmed reports that five PLA soldiers were also killed in the clash. Senior officers recounted extreme Chinese brutality to the Indian prisoners, with some of them being pushed over cliffs and soldiers’ bodies being recovered from the Galwan River.
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