Six Armymen were killed and one remains missing after an Army post in Siachen sector in Ladakh was buried under an avalanche early Sunday morning. Rescue operations had to be abandoned due to adverse weather conditions. All the Army personnel killed belonged to the Assam Regiment. Confirming the deaths, defence spokesman J S Brar said: “At 6.15 am, our posts at a height of over 17,000 feet came under an avalanche in sub-sector Hanif, in Turtuk area of Siachen. Immediately avalanche rescue teams along with rescue dogs were launched. Six jawans unfortunately lost their lives. Their remains have been recovered. One jawan is still missing.” A senior Indian Army officer confirmed that the incident took place during a routine movement of troops. “The avalanche struck during an inter- post movement of the soldiers.” The Army, which first deployed soldiers on the icy heights of the glacier almost three decades ago, has of late managed to drastically cut down casualties, thanks to new generation shelters and winter survival equipment. Pakistan, which is deployed on the other side of the line of control, had lost 129 soldiers in April when an avalanche struck a military camp in the Gayari area, one of the logistics bases for soldiers posted at Siachen. However, this is the worst tragedy to have struck Indian troops in the Siachen glacier area after a series of avalanches resulted in the death of three jawans in February 2010. A few days prior to that, the Army suffered its largest casualties in an avalanche in recent times when 17 soldiers were buried alive at a training institute in Gulmarg. Similar tragedy had struck this year also when at least 16 Army personnel were killed in two different avalanches that struck posts along the Line of Control in central and north Kashmir in February. Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Cell in Kashmir has issued an avalanche warning in the upper reaches of the Valley, including Banihal, Chowkibal, Tangdhar, Machil, Keran, Gurez, Sonamarg, Drass and higher reaches of Kargil and Gulmarg. The upper reaches of the Valley have been receiving moderate to heavy snowfall for the past few days, triggering avalanches at many places.