Seven Indian soldiers and eight army porters were feared killed after avalanches, triggered by heavy snow, hit army posts near the border with Pakistan in Kashmir, Reuters quoted an army spokesman as saying today. He said troops had launched rescue operations in Uri and Machil sectors in north Kashmir near the Line of Control (LoC), a military line dividing the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan. "Two bodies have been recovered so far, five soldiers and eight porters are still missing," Colonel Manjinder Singh said. The snow and landslides also blocked the 300-km (185-mile) mountain highway that links the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India, authorities said. Avalanches occur frequently in the area around the LoC and in the Kashmir Valley. In 2005, nearly 250 people were killed after the heaviest snow in more than 40 years triggered avalanches that swept away hundreds of homes in a south Kashmir district.
