Six soldiers were martyred and three terrorists killed in an attack on a military compound in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district on Wednesday, the military’s media affairs wing said.
Earlier, District Police Officer (DPO) Waqar Ahmad had said that three security personnel were martyred in the incident and 18 others injured in the overnight attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) fort. The DPO had said in a statement that the injured were shifted to the district hospital where an emergency was declared while more troops had been dispatched to the area. However, the statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) did not mention any injuries. It also did not specify whether the military compound that was attacked was an FC fort. Three terrorists attempted to enter the military compound but troops responded in an “efficient manner” and foiled the terrorists’ bid, the statement said, adding that security personnel encircled and killed the terrorists.
During the exchange of fire, the statement said, “six soldiers, having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat (martyrdom)”. The martyred soldiers were identified as 48-year-old Subedar Major Sher Muhammad, who was a resident of Naushahro Feroze, 39-year-old Naib Subedar Zubaid, a resident of Khairpur, 39-year-old Havaldar Sohail, a resident of Rawalpindi, 36-year-old Lance Naik Ghulam Ali, a resident of Tando Allah Yar, 32-year-old Sepoy Maskeen Ali, a resident of Khairpur, and 37-year-old Sepoy Mir Muhammad, who was a resident of Sukkur.
“[The] Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR statement read. In a separate statement, the ISPR said two security personnel were martyred and four terrorists killed during an intense exchange of fire in the city of Makin in KP’s South Waziristan district. The statement said troops had responded to the terrorists in a “befitting manner”, with the latter suffering four casualties. The two security personnel who were martyred after “having fought gallantly” were identified as 25-year-old Captain Saad Bin Amir, who was a resident of Rawalpindi, and 37-year-old Lance Naik Riaz, a resident of Tank, the statement added. “Area clearance is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area,” the statement read, reiterating the army’s resolve to eliminate the “menace of terrorism”. The incidents come days after four soldiers were martyred in North Waziristan’s Hassan Khel area during an exchange of fire with terrorists who attempted to infiltrate Pakistan from Afghanistan in the night between March 23 and March 24.
