JAMMU, Jan. 20 -- The Indian Air Force on Monday airlifted 81 stranded passengers between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, an official said. The Air Force had also ferried 289 passengers last week between the two union territories.

"Eighty-one passengers were airlifted by AN-32, locally known as Kargil Courier. While 53 passengers were airlifted from Kargil to Jammu, 28 others were ferried from Jammu to Kargil," Aamir Ali, Chief Coordinator, Kargil Courier Service, said.

AN-32 Kargil Courier Service operates thrice a week between Kargil and Jammu and twice a week between Kargil and Srinagar due to a closure of the 434-km Srinagar-Leh national highway owing to heavy snowfall.

On January 12, a total of 286 stranded passengers of Ladakh were a...