20 Indian Army Soldiers Killed In Violent Clash With Chinese Troops, 43 Casualties On Chinese Side

Over twenty Indian Army personnel were killed in a violent clash with the Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh's Galwan valley yesterday night (16 June), as per defence journalist Shiv Aroor.

ANI adds that an increased Chinese chopper activity was reported along the LAC in a bid to airlift casualties suffered by them during the face-off.

As per national security analyst Nitin Gokhale this violent clash was a result of Chinese troops coming back into Indian territory after initially agreeing to disengage.

A couple of hours earlier the Ministry Of External Affairs (MEA) had issued a statement saying that the clash erupted after China attempted to unilaterally change the status quo in the area. It also added that all of India's activities are within the Indian side of the LAC.

Earlier in the day three casualties on the Indian side were confirmed when the news first broke of the violent clash with China. The three have now been identified as Colonel B Santosh Babu, Havildar Palani and Sepoy Ojha.

This is the first time killing have taken place at the India-China border since 1975 when the Chinese shot dead four Assam rifle troopers.