avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...
hit a
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
base in Gayari Sector, near the
Siachen Glacier
The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kar ...
region, trapping 140 soldiers and
civilian
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...
contractors under deep snow. The incident occurred at an altitude of about 4,000 meters and 300 km northeast of
Baltistan
Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilg ...
). It was the worst avalanche that the
Pakistani military
The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...
has experienced in the area.
On 29 May 2012,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
declared that the 129 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed.
Background
The Siachen Glacier region in the eastern
Karakoram
The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...
range in the
Himalaya
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and Pakistan for several decades. In 1949, a
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
line was negotiated between the two countries in an effort to resolve the competing territorial claims of the violent
Kashmir conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claim ...
. The agreement, however, did not clearly delineate Siachen as either Indian or Pakistani, and competing claims to the barren, unpopulated area began to escalate. Both sides issued numerous
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
permits for the area during the 1970s and 1980s, fearing that the other's expeditions indicated plans to formalise control over the glacier and its surroundings. Thus, both India and Pakistan began planning military operations to pre-empt the other's designs. On 13 April 1984, India launched
Operation Meghdoot
Operation Meghdoot ( "Operation Cloud Messenger" after a famous Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa) was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces' operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict. E ...
with the objective of taking control of the area, fearing it would fall into Pakistani hands. The operation was successful, and India extended its control over much of the triangle of mountainous, icy land, up to and including the passes of the
Saltoro Ridge
The Saltoro Mountains are a subrange of the Karakoram Range. They are located in the southeast Karakoram on the southwest side of the Siachen Glacier, one of the two longest glaciers outside the polar regions. The name given to this range is sh ...
situated west of the Siachen Glacier, while Pakistan retained control over the western slopes and foothills of that ridge.
Although the Pakistani military launched numerous attempts to wrest the region from Indian control until the 2003 ceasefire, the situation on the ground changed little, and the front stagnated along the
Actual Ground Position Line
The Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) divides current positions of Indian and Pakistani military posts and troops across the entire long front line in the disputed region of Siachen Glacier. AGPL generally runs along the Saltoro Mountains ra ...
(AGPL), which trends northward from the northern end of the
Line of Control
The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region. With troops deployed at elevations up to 6,700 metres (22,000 feet) above sea level, the glacier region has come to be known as "the world's highest battlefield". Thousands of troops from both sides remained stationed in at least 150 bases on the glacier and surrounding mountains and valleys. The simmering conflict over the glacier region costs both countries millions of dollars each year.
Avalanches are known to occur frequently in the Siachen region, though casualties from them are generally low due to the fact that they normally strike remote, high-altitude "forward bases" with only a handful of troops. The most devastating one prior to this occurred in 2010, in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.
The winter of 2011–2012 in
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
was unusually harsh, marked by numerous heavy snowfalls and sharp temperature drops.
Avalanche
Around 2:00 am
Pakistan Standard Time
Pakistan Standard Time ( ur, , abbreviated as PKT) is UTC+05:00 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The time zone is in use during standard time in Asia.
History
Pakistan had been following UTC+05:30 since 1907 (during the British Raj) ...
(PKT) on 7 April 2012, a massive ice avalanche struck a Pakistani military headquarters at Gayari, 30 km west of the Siachen Glacier terminus, near the Siachen glacier region. Located in a deep valley at 3,775 metres (12,400 feet) above sea level, the Gayari base is one of the most important Pakistani bases in the area. It is a vital supply hub for troops and
materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
passing through to more remote bases, and is not far from a military hospital. At the time of the ice avalanche, the base was occupied by soldiers of the 6th
Northern Light Infantry
The Northern Light Infantry Regiment (NLI) is a light infantry regiment in the Pakistan Army, based and currently headquartered in Gilgit, Pakistan. Along with other forces of the Pakistani military, the NLI has the primary responsibility of con ...
battalion, a unit "trained in mountain operations". Avalanches are uncommon in the area of Gayari; due to the low avalanche risk, Gayari was a bigger complex and housed many more soldiers than other bases in the Siachen region. The glacier avalanche broke off at an elevation of around 4560 meters above sea level in a distance of around 1300 m from the camp.
Initial reports indicated that at least 100 Pakistani soldiers, including a
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
and a
commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
, had been trapped under an estimated 21 metres (70 feet) of snow, covering an area of 1 square kilometre. The number of people missing was later stated to be at least 135: "at least 124 soldiers and 11 civilian contractors". No communication with any person from the base was reported after the avalanche. A list of 135 names of those missing was later released by the
Inter-Services Public Relations
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ( ur, ), is the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's civilian media and the civic society.
The ISPR directo ...
of Pakistan Armed Forces.
The army declared all victims of the avalanche as 'Shuhada' (
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s), as the nature and magnitude of the disaster indicated minimal chances of recovering any survivors.
Rescue operation
An avalanche rescue operation was quickly launched by the Pakistani military. Over 150 soldiers—using helicopters,
rescue dog
Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party such as a person, shelter, or rescue organization. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters and rescue groups. Some or ...
s, and heavy machinery airlifted from the main
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
in
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
—began searching the area for the missing soldiers and contractors, with "a team of doctors and paramedics" standing by. Local reports initially indicated that the operation had recovered at least 12 bodies by the end of the day, but official reports stated that no victims had been found, dead or alive.
Due to the remoteness and extreme weather conditions, rescue operations were expected to take several days to complete. Nevertheless, official Pakistani military sources remained "hopeful", and an anticipated improvement in weather conditions was expected to quicken the operation after initial efforts on the night of 7–8 April were cut short due to bad weather and darkness.
However, other sources expressed a much more grave view of the situation. An unnamed senior military officer said "All we can do now is pray. It is such a desperately tough place that it
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
need a miracle for someone to have survived." Pakistani Army Colonel Sher Khan, an expert in mountain warfare sent by the military to oversee the rescue operation, said that "there is no hope, there is no chance at all" for those buried under the snow, and noted that any survivors of the avalanche itself would have died within minutes from exposure to the elements.
By 9 April, rescue crews working at the scene of the disaster had managed to clear an area of snow measuring approximately 12 metres (40 feet) in length, 9 metres (30 feet) in width, and 3 metres (10 feet) in depth, but despite initial hopes for clearer conditions, inclement weather continued to hamper the operation. A team of eight US military experts sent to Pakistan to assist the over 300 Pakistanis—286 soldiers and 60 civilians by this time—already working at the disaster area was unable to make it to the far northern site due to the weather, and official military statements still indicated that no bodies or survivors had been found by rescuers. The Pakistan Army had dispatched its chief of staff, General
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (Urdu: ; born 20 April 1952), is a retired four-star general of the Pakistan Army who served as the 8th Chief of Army Staff , being appointed on 29 November 2007 after his predecessor Pervez Musharraf retired fro ...
, to the Siachen region to lead the operation. Two additional groups of foreigners were also expected to arrive in Islamabad on the evening of 9 April the country to provide further aid: three Swiss "experts" and a six-member German "disaster management team" with additional equipment.
By 10 April, the rescue crew had increased to 452 people, 69 of them civilians, with nine pieces of
heavy machinery
Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...
pressed into service for digging out the avalanche site, and had begun excavating five points on the disaster site in search of victims—two with heavy machinery, three without. The teams from Germany and Switzerland had arrived in Rawalpindi, joining the American team, which had still not yet reached the site due to weather. A seven-man specialist team was using life detection kits and thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to detect any residual body warmth from those buried under the snow and debris. The Pakistan Army released a revised list of those missing, the number climbing to 138. Snow was expected for the next two days, further frustrating rescue efforts as the possibility of finding survivors dwindled to next to none.
On 18 April 2013, the army resumed the search operation for the remaining bodies of the victims of April 2012 avalanche in Gayari sector near the Siachen glacier after improvement of weather and melting of snow. The search operation was suspended on 27 November 2012 due to winter season. 121 bodies were recovered in 2012 whereas 19 bodies are yet to be found.
As of 8 June 2013, search & rescue teams of the army had recovered 131 dead bodies while search for the remaining nine continued.
On 2 October 2013, Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said that 133 bodies had so far been recovered from Gayari sector while search for the remaining seven continued.
Speculation about causes
Experts advanced various theories as to the cause of the disaster. The president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, Manzoor Hussain, suggested that a piece of the main glacier had broken off and obliterated the camp. However, retired Pakistani Colonel Sher Khan said that the disaster was likely a landslide caused by heavy precipitation, not an avalanche: "In this case, a huge flood of water is coming down from the sky and creates a lot of mud and loose earth on the mountain. Mostly boulders, mud, and water ran down the mountain." He predicted that freezing temperatures would have hardened the mass of snow and debris, complicating digging efforts.
A Pakistani newspaper article using
Pakistan Meteorological Department
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) ( ur, , also known as Pakistan Met Office), is an autonomous and independent institution tasked with providing weather forecasts and public warnings concerning weather for protection, safety and gener ...
data accused India of carrying out extensive military activities that caused the avalanche. The article cited the melting of ice at the terminus of the Siachen Glacier and suggested that large carbon deposits from Indian military activity led to increased solar radiation as one of the prime causes of the incident. However, there are no Indian troops within 15 km of either the avalanche site or the avalanche source basin, and no part of the Siachen Glacier itself is within 30 km of the avalanche site, separated from the Siachen system by the 5000 to 7500 meter high
Saltoro Ridge
The Saltoro Mountains are a subrange of the Karakoram Range. They are located in the southeast Karakoram on the southwest side of the Siachen Glacier, one of the two longest glaciers outside the polar regions. The name given to this range is sh ...
. A study by a non-governmental organization revealed poor
waste collection
Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes the curbside collection of recyclable m ...
mechanisms by Indian forces, almost entirely located in the Siachen Glacier basin, who produce 1000 kilograms of waste a day that is packed in drums. These drums of waste are thrown in
crevasses
A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pie ...
, at the rate of about 4000 drums a year. However, the avalanche site is 15 km west of any part of the Siachen basin, near the Gayari (Ghyari) River just below the Bilafond La, neither of which flow from or connect with the Siachen Glacier system.
Another
conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
involves the use of the Indian
KALI
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...
project to melt the ice of the slope to cause the avalanche known by the codename ''Operation Whitewash'', though no strong sources have been reported on the topic. However on 14 July 2018 Parliament asked Indian current government, whether there is any proposal to induct KALI 5000 in the armed forces and the former Defence Minister of India
Manohar Parrikar
Manohar Parrikar (born Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar; 13 December 1955 – 17 March 2019) was an Indian politician and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party who served as Chief Minister of Goa from 14 March 2017 until his death. Previous ...
replied in written to the Lok Sabha that, "The desired information is sensitive in nature and its disclosure is not in the interest of national security" Government also refused to give any information of testing KALI laser weapon.
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
,
Shaukat Qadir
Shaukat Qadir is an independent Risk and Security Analyst who works generally in South Asia, particularly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He started his career as a pilot in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and then moved to the Pakistan Army. He reti ...
, a retired Pakistani
Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
and current political analyst, called the incident "the biggest casualty that has ever happened", and noted that more soldiers have died from the extreme elements than from combat during the entire Siachen conflict: " e fact of matter is that 70 per cent of the people have died because of natural causes, and I think this is the time we ended this damn conflict, which has absolutely no explanation." He also expressed hope that the incident would help bring an end to the Siachen conflict, and that a meeting in India, between
Pakistani President
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...
and
Indian Prime Minister
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...
, on 8 April could help "settle this issue for both sides" .
Zardari was ostensibly visiting India for a day to make a personal religious pilgrimage to the
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
shrine at
Ajmer Sharif
Ajmer Sharif Dargah (also Ajmer Dargah, Ajmer Sharif or Dargah Sharif) is a Sufi tomb (''dargah'') of the revered Sufi saint, Moinuddin Chishti, located at Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The shrine has Chishti's grave (Maqbara).
Location
Ajmer Shari ...
, but took the opportunity to meet informally with Singh to discuss matters of state. Zardari has presided over a considerable thaw in Indo-Pakistani relations, repudiating the official Pakistani "first nuclear strike" position, granting "most favoured nation" status to India, and declaring that both countries should "freeze the issue of Kashmir for a generation".
Expressing great sorrow and extending condolences to the families of the victims, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) demanded that "conditions in which the soldiers were stationed at the glacier" be investigated to assess the adequacy of the safety measures in place to protect those troops stationed in Siachen. The HCRP also urged India and Pakistan to continue to pursue a resolution to the Siachen conflict.
The army declared all the victims of Gayari sector as martyrs.
International reactions
* During the Zardari-Singh talks, which Zardari described as "fruitful", Singh offered humanitarian assistance to aid the Pakistani rescue effort. Zardari expressed gratitude for the offer and said that he would accept Indian help if needed.
* The
United States embassy
The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...
in
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
released a statements expressing "deep concern for the brave Pakistani soldiers that are currently trapped as a result of an avalanche in Gayari Sector of the Siachen Glacier" region and offered American assistance in the rescue operation. The United States dispatched an eight-member rescue team from
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, Afghanistan to Islamabad to provide advice and aid in the rescue efforts.
See also
*
List of avalanches
This is an incomplete list of notable avalanches.
See also
*Avalanche
*List of natural disasters by death toll
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Avalanches
*
Avalanches in the United States
Death in the United Kingdom
Dea ...