At least 10 Army personnel killed in Ladakh face-off: govt sources
New Delhi, Jun 16 (PTI) At least 10 Indian Army personnel were killed in a violent clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Monday night, escalating the already volatile border standoff between the two sides, government sources said.
Multiple sources in government and military establishments confirmed to PTI that more than 10 Indian Army personnel were killed in the fierce clash at Galwan Valley last night that continued for several hours.
The fatalities, the highest in decades, may go up further, they said.
The sources said the Chinese side also suffered “proportionate casualties” but chose not to speculate on the numbers.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Army said India lost an officer and two soldiers during the violent face-off, while there were casualties on the Chinese side as well.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about last night’s clash as well the overall situation in eastern Ladakh after he held a high-level meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs.
According to a senior military officer, it is the first incident involving the casualty of an Indian soldier in a violent clash with the Chinese Army after 1975 when four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush at Tulung La in Arunachal Pradesh.
Military sources said the two armies held major general-level talks at the site of the clash.
“During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place on Monday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers,” the Army said in a brief statement.
“Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation,” it said.
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