A disturbing image of nail-studded rods, reportedly used by Chinese soldiers to attack Indian soldiers on Monday night has garnered outrage on social media.
Senior journalist Ajai Shukla, who shared the image tweeted, “The nail-studded rods — captured by Indian soldiers from the Galwan Valley encounter site — with which Chinese soldiers attacked an Indian Army patrol and killed 20 Indian soldiers. Such barbarism must be condemned. This is thuggery, not soldiering,” he tweeted.
Twitter, too, expressed shock at the graphic image
Earlier, the Indian Army issued a statement, saying that the clash between the two sides happened as a result of an attempt by Chinese soldiers to 'unilaterally change' the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh, adding that the situation could have been avoided had the agreement at the higher level had been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.
Indian Army troopers were outnumbered by 1:5 when they came under attack from the Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers at patrolling point number 14 in Galwan Valley on the Line of Actual Control. Officials had earlier stated that no guns had been used in the skirmish.
The Chinese resorted to rocks and barbed wires, as a pact signed by the two sides to not open fire within two kilometres from the LAC. This had been stipulated to prevent "dangerous military activities" and does not apply to routine firing activities in small arms firing ranges.
As the first segment under Article VI states, "Neither side shall open fire, cause bio-degradation, use hazardous chemicals, conduct blast operations or hunt with guns or explosives within two kilometers from the line of actual control."
Notably, government sources have called Monday's attack the 'deadliest attack carried on Indian Army personnel by the Chinese military to our memory.'
