Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Wednesday said that those who sacrificed their lives for the motherland would not be forgotten.
The COAS said this while paying rich tributes to the Gyari martyrs at a special ceremony at Gyari Sector.
The army chief vowed to continue efforts for the recovery of the remaining bodies of the martyrs. He said 133 bodies, out of 140 who went missing in an avalanche a year ago, had so far been recovered.
He said some experts had recommended Gyari to be declared as collective grave of the martyrs. He lauded the untiring efforts‚ dedication and devotion of the troops who succeeded in accomplishing this difficult task of retrieving the bodies of the martyrs.
The army chief said the entire nation stood by the armed forces of Pakistan in performing their sacred obligation of defence of the country.
Earlier‚ the chief of army staff laid a floral wreath at the monument of the Gyari martyrs and offered fateha. The ceremony was also attended by the heirs of martyrs and officers and soldiers of Pakistan Army.
As many as 129 soldiers and 11 civilians were martyred in 2012 when an avalanche hit the Gayari Sector.