The real enemy on the world's highest battlefield

70% of all deaths in Siachen have been due to the harsh weather and terrain

The world’s highest battlefield is the Siachen glacier placed in Northern Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan claim the area with thousands of soldiers stationed there.

It is considered a deadly posting at altitudes ranging from 13,000-22,000ft because of the freezing temperatures and avalanches which happen to be a reason for soldiers' death.

According to official figures, Pakistan and India have lost around 2,500 soldiers since the conflict erupted in April 1984 whereas unofficial figures state somewhere around 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers.



Since the 2003 agreement between Pakistan and India, not a single soldier on either side has died from a battle wound and 70 per cent of all deaths in Siachen have been due to the harsh weather and terrain.

"You have to understand that the soldiers' biggest enemy is nature - frigid weather and the lack of oxygen, not the troops stationed across from them," one medical doctor and Pakistan army veteran said.

The worst disaster occurred on April 7, 2012 in which 140 soldiers of Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry were buried in an avalanche.

Pakistan Army’s Gayari Sector Battalion Headquarters which are located 20 miles west of Siachen was engulfed in ice and rock up to 150ft deep.

A huge avalanche killed 140 at Pakistan's Gayari Sector Battalion HQ in April 2012. PHOTO COURTESY: BBC

Last year a huge wall came down crashing on an Indian post that killed all the nine men there. Despite multiple rounds of talks, nothing has been able to end this military standoff.

The troops there spend four to six hours manning their posts or patrolling the area.

The average temperature throughout the year is -20C whereas it drops down to -50C in the winter and lack of oxygen becomes the biggest problem.

"The one thing we all take for granted is breathing, and that is often the most difficult thing to do here," said an army major.

Soldiers must rely on each other for camaraderie high in the mountains. PHOTO COURTESY: BBC

Daily tasks such as going to the bathroom, shaving or brushing your teeth can lead to fforstbites or amputation at worst. Even cooking food takes up three to four hours.

“Before being sent to Siachen, soldiers had to undergo rigorous training at the army's school of mountain warfare. There they are taught how to acclimatise, give first-aid, climb safely and move from one post to another while avoiding crevasses,” said Pakistan Army Col Aamer Islam, deputy commander for Siachen 323 Brigade.

“The primary purpose of this training is to ensure that, more than anything else, the soldiers are able to carry out their daily tasks while surviving on barely sufficient oxygen,” he further added.

The tenure of Pakistani soldiers in Siachen begins from brigade headquarters at Goma moving towards higher posts. They carry backpacks weighing around 25-30 kg which includes a sleeping bag, oxygen canisters, kerosene oil, ice axes, gloves, socks and specialized ropes.

“Ideally, soldiers should rotate every 45 days, especially those who are serving at posts higher than 18,000ft, but often due to the weather it is not possible,” said Col Islam.

“With no electricity or gas, the soldiers have to rely on kerosene oil. Kerosene oil, or K2 as we call it, is the lifeline of a post. We use it for heating our rooms, to charge our phones, to melt ice and boil water. It is our singular source of energy," the major added.

Kerosene is crucial to keeping the military posts going. PHOTO COURTESY: BBC

“Meals prepared using the military-grade dry food supplies were barely edible,” says the medical officer.

"To begin with, there is little appetite," he said. "Then, for the first two weeks of my posting, I was nauseous every single time I ate. It is something you'd never want to see, let alone eat. I had lost 22kg by the time I went back home."

The major said that the hardest part of a posting to Siachen was to figure out what to do all day.

"You don't know what to do next. All we have is each other and that is what we do. We talk."

The doctor agreed, saying "There is no such thing as privacy or traditional hierarchy in a post that barely has enough space to accommodate six to eight people. We talk about our lives from the moment we were born to our wedding nights. Nothing is held back."

High altitude life may cause dizziness, loss of appetite, fatigue, swelling of the lungs and brain apart from insomnia, depression and memory loss.

"The sense of seclusion and distance drives people to clinical depression and insanity," the doctor said. "All you have is a vast swathe of snow and no signs of life. You are at top of the world yet entirely lonely."

The stark landscape can cause mental health issues for some soldiers. PHOTO COURTESY: BBC

A soldier from a village near Multan relayed his experience on how he wasn’t able to attend his father’s funeral as it isn’t possible to come back once you go on a forward post.

Unexpected dangers are even common such as a bear attack. "The soldiers are supposed to guard the post and he was doing his duty when he was attacked. At his yells for help, another soldier rushed out but the bear attacked him too," he said. One soldier died and the other lost a hand.



On a lighter note, soldiers even enjoy whenever they get a chance. A soldier posted at 16,000ft said he followed the recent Champions trophy final in which Pakistan beat India.

Apart from that, they read books, play ludo or cards. Some soldiers even sing songs and play flute to pass their time.

"These small joys, these are all we have," said the army doctor, "Otherwise we'd all have acute depression. Fighting a war at this height is a deranged thing to do. It is nothing but madness."

This article originally appeared on BBC