Two Soldiers Injured in Landmine Incident in Jammu and Kashmir
Landmine Explosion Injures Soldiers
Representational Image
Jammu, August 6: Two soldiers sustained injuries while attempting to neutralize a landmine in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, as reported by officials on Thursday.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night in the Kanga Gali area of the Mendhar sector when the landmine detonated during the defusal attempt.
According to officials, the injured personnel were swiftly transported to an Army medical facility for urgent care. The landmine was initially discovered by an army patrol, prompting the call for specialized personnel to handle the explosive.
These forward areas are equipped with landmines as part of an anti-infiltration strategy, which can sometimes be displaced by heavy rainfall.
Known as ‘drift landmines’, these explosives often lead to accidents along the Line of Control (LoC).
Such incidents typically occur when intense monsoon rains, flash floods, or soil erosion dislodge older anti-personnel mines, causing them to shift into areas that were previously deemed safe.
As these explosives migrate into unmarked zones, they create significant risks for soldiers on patrol, local residents, and livestock.
Extreme weather events, including widespread cloudbursts and flash floods, can severely erode the mountainous terrain where these protective measures are installed.
Water runoff can displace buried, often corroded anti-personnel mines down slopes and into streams or patrol routes, undermining the safety of mapped and fenced minefields.
Previous accidents involving drifting landmines have been reported in Baramulla, Poonch, and Rajouri districts, where areas designated as ‘No Man’s Land’ are laced with landmines as part of the anti-infiltration framework.
In a related incident, a rusted unexploded ordnance was found in the Nalwa Degwar Terwan region and was subsequently neutralized by the Army's bomb disposal team. This device, suspected to be a hand grenade, was discovered by laborers working on road construction in the vicinity, according to officials.