Army emerges victorious as PARA Central Meet concludes

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday attended the closing ceremony of the 41st Pakistan Army Rifle Association (PARA) central meet at Jhelum Garrison as chief guest, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

It said that the mega shooting event was conducted at Army Marksmanship Unit from October 26 to December 1, adding that over 2,500 firers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Civil Armed Forces (CAFs) including Rangers, Frontier Corps and Airport Security Force (ASF) as well as civilians participated in the competition that comprised numerous events involving different ranges and types of weapons.

According to the ISPR, Gen Qamar awarded trophies and medals to the winners and runners up in each shooting category.

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In Inter Formations Competition, Multan Corps came first followed by Mangla Corps. In the CAFs category, the trophy has been won by Punjab Rangers while Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts were runners up.

The ISPR said that in inter-services matches, the Pakistan Army won all four contests including the COAS, Chief of Air Staff (CAS) and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) matches.

It said that the PAF remained runners up in the COAS and CAS matches while Pakistan Navy came second in CNS match.

The Pakistan Army won shotgun, long-range and small-bore trophies in open national matches. The Pakistan Army also won the prime minister "skills at arms" big bore national challenge while the Pakistan Navy secured the second position.

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The biggest military shooting honour 'the master at arms' trophy was awarded to Lance Havildar Arshad Saddique of the 12 Punjab Regiment.

According to the statement, the President’s Cup national challenge match trophy was awarded to Havaldar Jaffar Hussain of the Army Marksmanship Unit.

The prime minister 'skills at arms' big-bore national challenge match were won by the Pakistan Army. The 'best shot match trophy' was awarded to Lance Dafadar Zulfiqar Khan.

While interacting with participants, the COAS appreciated the firers for their excellent standards of marksmanship. Terming shooting skill as the hallmark of a professional soldier, General Qamar said that attaining proficiency at shooting must remain at the heart of basic military training objectives.