Kamal Ghorui
JAMMU: Ten Army soldiers were killed and 11 wounded around noon Thursday when an armoured troop carrier skidded off a narrow mountain road in J&K and plunged nearly 200ft into a gorge. The six-wheel truck was heading to a counterterrorism operation in the upper reaches of Doda district, a remote, forested area in the Jammu region, when it lost traction near Khanni Top — a 9,000ft-high pass on Bhaderwah–Chamba interstate road that links J&K with Himachal Pradesh.An Army-police joint rescue effort began immediately after the crash, which occurred in bad weather on a steep stretch of road carved into the mountains. “The vehicle carrying troops for an operation slipped off the road while navigating treacherous terrain in bad weather,” White Knight Corps said in a post on X.Four soldiers died at the crash site. Others died of injuries while being evacuated or after reaching hospital, officials said. At least 10 of the injured were airlifted to the Army’s Northern Command Hospital in Udhampur. One injured soldier remains under observation at a sub-district hospital in Bhaderwah town, about 190km northeast of Jammu city, and is reported to be stable.The troops were traveling in a bulletproof Casspir — also known as Casper — a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle designed to shield soldiers from land mines and roadside bombs.PM Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Lt governor Manoj Sinha, CM Omar Abdullah and Northern Command GoC-in-C Lt Gen Pratik Sharma expressed grief and condolences to the families of the dead, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.“Deeply anguished by the mishap in Doda, in which we have lost our brave army personnel. Their service to the nation will be remembered forever. May the injured recover at the earliest. All possible support is being provided to those affected,” Modi posted on X.The crash adds to a series of fatal accidents involving military vehicles in the mountainous terrain of J&K and Ladakh, where narrow roads, sharp bends and frequent landslides pose constant risks. Thursday’s accident took the toll to 30 since 2023.In July 2025, a Lt Col and a soldier were killed when a boulder struck a convoy vehicle in eastern Ladakh. In Jan last year, four soldiers died after their truck rolled down a hillside in Bandipora district of north Kashmir. Five soldiers were killed in Dec 2024 when a truck plunged into a gorge in Poonch district near the LoC. In Aug 2023, nine soldiers died in a similar crash in the Nyoma area of Ladakh when their vehicle skidded off a mountain road and fell into a deep gorge.
