An avalanche in Gilgit-Baltistan killed two military and a civilian: ISPR.

Two Pakistan Army troops and a civilian machine operator were killed in an avalanche in Gilgit-Baltistan’s (GB) Burzil Pass, the military’s public relations department announced on Saturday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated in a statement that a snow-clearing operation commanded by Captain Asmad Gulfam began on the night of December 2 (Friday) and lasted into the morning to allow soldiers to move in the region.

“At around 2am on January 3, 2026, while [the] subject operation was ongoing, a snow slide triggered, resultantly Captain Asmad [28, a resident of Lahore], along with two soldiers and [a] civilian machine operator (PWD), got entrapped,” the Islamic State Police reported.
The statement claimed that four people were recovered from the snow; however, Captain Asmad, Sepoy Rizwan (32, a native of Attock), and machine operator Essa (a resident of Astore) deteriorated and committed suicide.

“These individuals rendered [the] ultimate sacrifice by leading a challenging operation, in extreme weather conditions, to facilitate operational movement of forces,” noted the International Security Policy Report (ISPR).

“Their sacrifice and devotion to duty is [a] testimony to the fact that all ranks of [the] Pakistan Armed Forces are determined to defend the motherland and will not hesitate to lay down their lives in the line of duty and devotion to [the] cause.”

Last month, two army troops were critically injured after a speeding oil tanker collided with an army vehicle near Qazi Ahmed town on the National Highway in Nawabshah on Saturday.

The victims, Mohammed Bakhsh and Mohammed Nadeem, were on their way to Sukkur from Karachi when the disaster occurred.

Police and Rescue-1122 officers responded quickly to the accident site and sent the victims to the Qazi Ahmed Taluka Hospital for emergency care. One of them was later sent to the People’s Medical University Hospital in Nawabshah due to his serious condition.