GAYARI (SIACHEN): Paying tribute to martyrs of Gayari sector, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Wednesday said the nation would never forget the sacrifices of its martyred army jawans. The army chief was speaking at a commemorative event held at here near Siachen glacier to honour the 140 army jawans martyred on April 7, 2012 after huge part of a mountain fell on them at night. High ranking army officers and jawans attended the event in the backdrop of high altitude mountains in strategically important Gayari sector. The army chief said the army vowed to search all its martyred jawans buried alive under 120 feet long and 70 feet wide boulder and hand over their bodies to the heirs with dignity and honour. "It was an impossible task but the army determinedly accepted it as a challenge," he said adding the long drawn search was carried out in a 13000 feet high area covered with snow. The army chief said Pakistani and international experts called the search operation a futile effort and suggested to declare the site a mass grave. According to some experts, seven to eight years were required to dig out the bodies but despite all the difficulties, the army was unwavering in its determination, he recalled. "It is a matter of satisfaction that the jawans of Pakistan army completed the task with unprecedented courage and persistence." The armymen with the help of 50 heavy excavation equipments worked day and night and succeeded in digging out bodies of 133 martyrs, he noted. He expressed determination that the search for bodies would continue till the remaining seven bodies were taken out and handed over to their loved ones for dignified burials.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 09:01:39 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015