Jammu and Kashmir: Two soldiers killed in accidental blast near LoC at Uri sector

Accidental explosion near LoC claims lives of two soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir (File pic)

Two soldiers were killed in an accidental blast near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday, officials said.

Official sources said that the incident occurred in the Kamalkote area of the Uri sector. Furthermore, the two soldiers had sustained critical injuries during the accidental explosion.

Official sources from IANS further noted, "They have been identified as Arjun Jadhav and Vikram Balakrishna, both of whom belonged to Maharashtra. They were shifted after sustaining critical injuries to the army's base hospital in the Badamibagh Cantonment area of Srinagar, but despite the best efforts of the doctors, they couldn't be revived."

According to IANS, both soldiers who were killed in an accident belonged to the 8 Rashtriya Rifles. The exact details as to how the explosion occurred are awaited.

Jammu and Kashmir has a 740-km-long LoC situated in the Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora districts of the Valley. In the Jammu division, the LoC is situated in Poonch, Rajouri, and partly in the Jammu district.

High-tech anti-drone systems equipped at LoC

In addition, the Union Territory has a 240-km-long international border, running through the Samba, Jammu, and Kathua districts of Jammu division.

The LoC is guarded by the army, while the international border is guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF). Both the army and the BSF are deployed on the border to prevent infiltration, exfiltration, smuggling, and drone activity initiated from across the border.

Hi-tech anti-drone equipment has been installed on the LoC and the international border to check the menace of drones on the Indian side of the border.

These drones are used by terror outfits with the assistance of Pakistani forces to drop payloads of arms, ammunition, cash, and drugs into the Indian side.

These payloads are picked up by the overground workers (OGWs) of the terrorist groups and then passed on to the terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir to sustain terrorism.

Zoji La Tunnel, bringing Kashmir and Ladakh closer

The Zoji La Pass tunnel connecting the Kashmir Valley to Ladakh took a crucial step towards completion on Tuesday with a blast breaking through the last 2.5 metres of the high-altitude infrastructure project that cuts through the Himalayas.

With this, the two ends of the world's longest single-tube bi-directional bypass, which will cut travel time from 1.5 hours to 15 minutes, have now been connected, officials said.

The breakthrough has brought the decades-old dream of all-weather connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh closer to reality. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari pressed the remote button, blasting the breakthrough site near the East Portal of the tunnel at Minimarg in the Ladakh Union Territory, they said.

(With inputs from IANS)