2012 Gayari Sector avalanche

The Siachen Glacier region in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalaya mountains has been the site of intermittent conflict between India and Pakistan for several decades. In 1949, a ceasefire line was negotiated between the two countries in an effort to resolve the competing territorial claims of the violent Kashmir conflict. The agreement, however, did not clearly delineate Siachen as either Indian or Pakistani, and competing claims to the barren, unpopulated area began to escalate. Thousands of troops from both sides remained stationed in at least 150 bases on the glacier and surrounding mountains and valleys. ==Avalanche==

Around 2:00 am Pakistan Standard Time (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. a unit trained in mountain operations. covering an area of 1 square kilometre. The number of people missing was later stated to be at least 135: The army declared all victims of the avalanche as 'Shuhada' (martyrs), 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 dogs, and heavy machinery airlifted from the main garrison in Rawalpindi—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. highlighted in maroon 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", 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 The Pakistan Army had dispatched its chief of staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to the Siachen region to lead the operation. By 10 April, the rescue crew had increased to 452 people, 69 of them civilians, with nine pieces of heavy machinery 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. 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. 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 involves the use of the Indian KALI 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 the Indian government whether there was any proposal to make use of KALI 5000 in the armed forces. The former Defence Minister of India Manohar Parrikar replied in writing to the Lok Sabha that, "The desired information is sensitive in nature and its disclosure is not in the interest of national security." The Government also refused to give any information of testing KALI laser weapon. ==Reactions==

Pakistani reactions Then-Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani expressed his shock at the incident, and said it "would in no way undermine the high morale of soldiers and officers". 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". 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 in Islamabad 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, Afghanistan to Islamabad to provide advice and aid in the rescue efforts. ==See also==