The Indian soldiers fought back valiantly, and inflicted several casualties on the Chinese. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said on June 17 that “Desh ko iss baat ka garv hoga ki hamaare sainik maarte maarte mare hain (The nation would be proud that our soldiers have died fighting).”The hand-to-hand combat between the soldiers on steep and jagged terrain continued for several hours. A number of Indian soldiers died due to drowning/cold, apparently after they were thrown or fell into the river during the clash, it is learnt.

“From the condition of the bodies of the martyred soldiers, it appeared that they had fought a fierce battle. It appeared that they [Indian soldiers] killed many [Chinese]. The injuries looked like multiple stab wounds inflicted with sharp-edged weapons, and several of them also had multiple limb fractures,” a doctor at Leh’s Sonam Nurboo Memorial (SNM) Hospital, who had seen the bodies, said on condition of anonymity.

Sources told The Indian Express that from the conversation with the wounded soldiers who were brought to the hospital in Leh, it appeared that the Indian soldiers went at the Chinese with everything they had after their Commanding Officer, Col Santosh Babu was attacked.“They [Indian soldiers] went with full aggression after their Colonel and two others who went ahead were attacked… Then the Indian soldiers launched a full attack. They were saying [to staff at the hospital] that they snatched whatever knives etc., and hit them [Chinese] back hard,” a source said.