22 Army personnel lost lives serving in high-altitude areas from 2017-19

Twenty-two Army personnel were killed between 2017 and 2019 while serving in high-altitude areas like the Siachen Glacier, according to details provided by the government in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said six Army men were killed in 2017 followed by eight each in 2018 and 2019.

He was replying to a written question on the number of Army personnel killed while serving in high-altitude areas.

The Siachen Glacier in the Karakorum range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbites and high winds. Avalanches and landslides are common at the glacier during the winter and temperatures can drop to as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.

India and Pakistan started deploying troops at the strategically important glacier in 1984.

"Indian Army is deployed in highly treacherous terrain along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, where there is constant threat of crevasses, avalanches and other weather related calamities to the troops," Naik said.