130 feared buried in Himalayan avalanche that hit Pakistani military base

GlobalPost

An avalanche has buried around 130 soldiers at a Pakistani army base on a Himalayan glacier close to India.

The Associated Press reported that rescue efforts were under way on the remote Siachen Glacier, where thousands of Pakistani and Indian troops are based.

"At six o'clock this morning this avalanche hit a [military] headquarters. Over 100 soldiers and personnel are trapped," Al Jazeera quoted Major-General Arther Abba's, a military spokesman, as saying.

Siachen is the world's second longest glacier in the non-polar areas, according to The Nation, and located in the eastern Karakoram range, east of the Line of Control between India and Pakistan.

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The avalanche occurred at about 6 a.m. local time Saturday, the Nation added.

The region is known as the world's highest battlefield, the AP wrote, with intermittent skirmishes there since 1984.

India and Pakistan have deployed troops at elevations of up to 22,000 feet.

However, more soldiers have died from harsh weather there than combat.

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