Army pays tributes to Kashmir highway ambush victims

The Army on Sunday paid tributes to two of its soldiers killed in a militant ambush on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Saturday.

"Army paid befitting tributes to two of its comrades who had attained martyrdom in a dastardly terrorist action on an Army convoy in Qazigund," spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia told media.

The ceremony at Badamibagh Cantonment was attended by senior officials from other security forces and civil administration, including state police chief.

The two soldiers were Naik Dipak Kumar Maity and Manivannan G.

Maity, 43, had joined Army in 1997 and hailed from Midnapur in West Bengal. He is survived by his wife Rikta and a 13-year-old daughter. Manivannan, 25, hailed from Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu and had donned the uniform in 2013. He is survived by his parents, mother G. Chinnaponnu and father Gopal G.

The mortal remains of the soldiers will be flown to their home towns where the last rites will be performed with full military honours, the spokesperson said.