Amid the growing tensions between the Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), several videos, pictures and unverified news is being circulated on social media.
On such post in circulation claims that 158 Indian soldiers were killed by the Chinese in Sikkim.
“Clashes erupted btw #Indian and #Chinese forces in Naku La sector of North Sikkim. China killed 158 Indian soldiers same number by which Pakistan beat India in Champion Trophy final” the caption of the post read.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found the claim to be false.
We ran a search using keywords ‘158 Indian soldiers killed’ and found some reports dated back to 2017.
According to an ANI report published on July 17, 2017, the Chinese media claimed that ‘at least 158 Indian soldiers were killed and several others injured after China fired rockets across Indian border installations’. The same claim was published by Several Pakistani media outlets too.
Whereas, a report by Hindustan Times dated July 18, 2017, stated that India termed the reports as “utterly baseless, malicious and mischievous.”
Later, even China denied the reports of the attack published by Pakistani media.
This proves that the news about 158 Indian soldiers killed is old and fake.
On the other hand, we found recent reports by several media outlets about the India-China face-off in north Sikkim.
According to a Business Today report, dated May 10, 2020, soldiers confronted each other in the Naku La sector of Sikkim. The reports also suggest that soldiers on both sides sustained some minor injuries.
NewsMobile couldn’t independently verify the origin and the location of the picture in circulation. However, from the above information, we can establish that the report of 158 Indian soldiers being killed in an attack by China, are false.
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