Indian BSF 6 soldiers wounded in firing practice

JAIPUR: According to NDTV, six Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were wounded during an early morning mortar firing practice on Tuesday at the Kishangarh field firing range, over 100 km from Rajasthan capital Jaipur. Two personnel are critical, a senior BSF officer said.

The troops were participating in a firing exercise at the Kishangarh firing range started in 2012 when a 51 mm mortar shell blew up short of its target. The incident took place at about 8.30 a.m. The critically injured are being airlifted to Jodhpur; the other four have been admitted to a local medical facility, a BSF official said in Delhi.

The army too lost a soldier last week after a mortar shell exploded short of its target at a firing range near Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang. Six soldiers were also injured in this incident.

Tuesday's incident is the third reported accident this year involving mortars at a firing range of the BSF that guards India's border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.