Wreath ceremony held at Drass War Memorial

A wreath laying ceremony was today held to mark the 12th anniversary of Army's victory in 1999 Kargil war at the Drass War Memorial here in Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior Army officers and the relatives of those killed in the two-month-long war in the summer of 1999 presented the floral tributes to the martyrs.

General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Leh-based 14 Corps Lt Gen R P Dastana, GOC of 8 Mountain Division, Lt Gen R J Noronha and GOC of 3 Mountain Division Lt Gen K M Balsara laid the wreath at the memorial.

Among others who presented the wreath at the memorial included 25 Commanding Officers and Subedar Majors, 21 Next of Killed (NoKs), gallantry award winners, formation commanders and two Param Vir Chakra award winners.

Later in the day Sainik Samelam (soldiers meet), band display and Beating the Retreat will be held.

A two-day commemoration is being held to mark the event. Kargil War, which began in May 1999, lasted more than two months before Pakistan soldiers withdrew from the mountain tops they had occupied overlooking the Srinagar-Leh highway.

In the battle with the Pakistani forces, Indian Army lost 543 officers, soldiers and jawans, many of whom were posthumously felicitated with gallantry awards.

Drass War Memorial, which has been built in the foothills of the Tololing Hill, will host all the ceremonies today.

The Drass town, 150 kms from summer capital Srinagar, was a major battle zone in the summer of 1999 and rose to its fame in the aftermath of the war for being associated with the Tiger Hill and Tololing Hill.