Family, friends remember ‘joyful and dedicated’ Captain Rohullah

SSG commando, who was part of APS attack operation, was martyred in Quetta attack

PESHAWAR: Captain Rohullah Mohmand, a commando of the military’s Special Service Group (SSG) — the country’s elite commando force -- lost his life on Tuesday during the clearance operation launched by the Pakistan Army in a police training centre in Quetta, where militants launched an attack killing 61 people.

Captain Rohullah, who was 26-years-old, was a resident of Ocha Wala area of Shabqadar Tehsil in Charsadda. He completed his primary education from Islamia Collegiate School and received secondary education from the Hayatabad Medical College.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

His father, Najibullah Mohmand, always wanted his son to become a doctor but Rohullah was simply obsessed with serving his country’s armed forces. He joined the army as a commissioned officer in 2009 and after completing military training from Kakul in 2011, he was commissioned into the military’s 50th Baloch Regiment.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

Captain Rohullah initially served in Okara. There, he joined the elite commando group of the Pakistan Army after which he was sent to Peshawar to carry out Intelligence-Based Operations (IBOs) during the military’s operation against terrorists. Rohullah participated in major operations, including the Army Public School Peshawar, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda and the Christian Colony attack in Warsak.

The 26-year-old was transferred to Balochistan on September 28 where he laid down his life while clearing the area of terrorists who had stormed the police training centre Monday night.



“We told him to go to medical school but he always wanted to serve the country and always aspired to join the military. He was going to get married in January and was already engaged,” his father told The Express Tribune. “He has made us all proud, particularly the Mohmand tribe, by sacrificing his life for his country.”

Captain Rohullah’s cousin and childhood friend, Ehtisham Mohmand, said: “He was the most joyful person of our family. He always wanted to become an officer of the army. Whenever we called him, he asked us not to disturb him during duty hours and promised he would take a few days off the next month to talk about things other than work."

Rohullah is survived by four siblings, including three brothers and a sister, of whom he was the eldest.

At least 61 security personnel died while 165 were injured late on Monday night when armed militants launched a deadly attack on a police training academy on the outskirts of Quetta. All three terrorists, who had barged into the New Sariab Police Training College, were later killed in a gunfight with the law enforcement agencies.

Army chief General Raheel Shrif has awarded Captain Rohullah with the fourth highest military award of Pakistan, Tamgha-e-Jurat (Medal of Courage), for showing extraordinary gallant and for distinguished service performed in combat operations, said the ISPR.