Kashmiri soldiers launch expedition to Mt Nun

Srinagar, Aug 29 (UNI) To commemorate the diamond jubilee of raising of the ''Sons of the Soil'', the Jammu And Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment (JAKLI), a mountaineering expedition was launched to Mount Nun, situated at a height of at 23,410 ft, a defence spokesman said today.

Leh-based XIV Corps General Officer-in-Commanding (GOC) Lt Gen P C Bharadwaj flagged off the expedition from Kargil.

In an impressive ceremony, he handed over the customary ice axe affixed with National, Army and JAKLI flags to team leader Col Vinay Khosla before formally flagging off the expedition.

In a telephonic message from Army headquarters in Delhi, military secretary and Colonel of JAKLI Lt Gen P R Gangadharan conveyed his best wishes to the team for successful scaling of Mt Nun.

JAKLI, raised in April 1948, would be celebrating its diamond jubilee next year.

Mt Nun, the highest peak in Jammu and Kashmir, is historically relevant to JAKLI. In June 1948, on a move of Pakistani raiders in Kargil and Zanaskar, 14 Jammu and Kashmir Militia moved across Great Himalayan Range adjacent to Mt Nun and drove off the raiders up to Gultari despite being ill-equipped and ill-trained.

UNI