SRINAGAR: Five Indian Army soldiers have gone missing along the Line of Control (LoC) in occupied Kashmir’s Gurez and Naugam sectors, following heavy snowfall in the valley since yesterday, a defence official said on Tuesday.

Jammu and Kashmir is experiencing widespread snowfall and rain with the meteorological (MeT) office forecasting present weather conditions to continue till Thursday due to a western disturbance over the state.

“Two soldiers fell down a slope in Naugam sector (Kupwara district) while three others went missing from a forward post in the Kanzalwan sub-sector of Gurez (Bandipora district) during heavy snowfall,” Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said here.

Search and rescue operations are on to trace the five missing soldiers, he said.

Earlier, a police official had said that the three soldiers in Gurez sector went missing after an avalanche hit their post at Baktoor near the LoC.