Three fights for 12 hours: A detailed account of the Galwan skirmish

Three fights for 12 hours: A detailed account of the Galwan skirmish

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Sunday, June 21, 2020, 02:35 PM IST
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Photo Credit: PTI

At least 20 Indian Army personnel lost their lives at the hands of Chinese troops during a faceoff at Galwan, the new trouble spot along the Line of Actual Control, as two nuclear armed powers took to fighting with sticks and stones.

According to report by India Today, the faceoff started after Chinese camp which was dismantled Patrol Point 14 in Galwan Valley, re-emerged unexpectedly on June 14. The Chinese observation post near Galwan River which was allegedly on the Indian side of the LAC. The camp was dismantled by the Chinese after holding series of talks.

On June 15 around 5 pm, Colonel B Santosh Babu along with a team of about 35 men proceeded on foot to the post. After they reached the Chinese camp, they realised that "the Chinese troops didn't seem familiar -- they weren't the PLA troops normally deployed in the area," reported India Today.

Later, when Colonel Babu started a conversation, asking why the post had been re-erected, a Chinese soldier stepped up and pushed him. After the Chinese soldier pushed Colonel Babu, the Indian team pounced on the Chinese. This led to a fist-fight. This was the first brawl and ended about 30 minutes later with injuries on both sides.

After the brawl, Colonel Babu sent the injured men back to the Indian post and asked them to send back more men. Later, after few hours when it was dark, more Chinese troops had arrived and were waiting in positions both on the banks of the Galwan. When the Chinese troops arrived, large stones began to land.

As per the report, at around 9pm, Colonel Babu was struck on the head by a large stone. "The assessment is that it may not have been a targeted attack on the Colonel, but in the flurry, he was struck," the report says. This second brawl lasted for 45 minutes and during this brawl bodies piled up.

It was during this brawl metal spiked clubs and barbed-wire wrapped rods were used by the Chinese. When the fighting stopped, several bodies of both Indian and Chinese troops were in the river.

While, the Indian Army personnel were recovering bodies, an injured personnel heard hum of a quadcopter drone. This triggered the third brawl. "The drone was slowly moving through the valley, possibly using night vision or infrared cameras to map the damage and mount another assault on survivors," the report said.

The third brawl began at 11 pm, with energy completely spent after five hours of fighting since the incident began, things finally fell silent. Later, Indian and Chinese combat medics arrived to move their dead and injured. "By dawn on June 16, the Indian troops withdrew back across the LAC," the report said.

Twenty Indian Army personnel including a colonel were killed in a fierce clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.

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