‘Pakistan lost 2,600 armymen in quake’

The earthquake on October 8 last year in J-K was not only a huge tragedy for the civilians of Pakistan and PoK, but also for that country’s army. Although the Pakistan Army has not so far come out with any official toll, Indian military intelligence estimates have put the toll at 2,400 soldiers and 200 officers, including five brigadiers.

South Block sources said that the figure of 2,400 was an estimate gathered from intelligence sources on the ground and was meant only to be indicative of the damage, adding that such an exercise was a standard part of post-disaster intelligence assessment. Sources said that copies of the report containing the estimate were sent to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt.

The figure is, however, significantly higher than the unofficial figure of 450 armymen killed, quoted by the Pakistani media ever since the quake. When contacted, a senior official at the Pakistan High Commission here said, ‘‘I cannot comment on this because we do not have access to this data. It is possibly still in the process of being compiled, so it would not be appropriate to discuss it.’’ He would not comment on whether 2,400 was approximately accurate either.

The Indian Army lost an officer, an NCO and 42 other personnel in the quake, which killed a total of over 80,000 people and brought the two armies together in an unprecedented way to aid in rehabilitation work.