Major martyred during gun battle with terrorists in KP’s Khyber tribal district: ISPR

An army officer was martyred during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Shakas area of Khyber tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the security forces had conducted an IBO last night after receiving reports about the presence of terrorists in the Shakas area of Khyber district.

The ISPR said that while security forces were trying to establish “blocking positions to cut (off) the escape routes of (the) terrorists”, a party of terrorists was spotted by Major Mian Abdullah Shah – who was “leading the operation from the front”.

It said that the 33-year-old officer, hailing from Kohat district, embraced martyrdom as a result of a heavy exchange of fire with the terrorists during the operation.

“Three terrorists and their facilitators were apprehended. Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate the terrorists present in the area,” the ISPR said.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” it added.

The incident comes three days after an army major and a soldier were martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in Kech district of Balochistan, hours after the martyrdom of four security personnel in simultaneous attacks on three checkpoints in Sherani district. On Wednesday, three soldiers were martyred and as many civilians were critically injured in a suicide attack in the general area of Miran Shah in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, according to the ISPR. – News Agencies