Five soldiers martyred in Balochistan, K-P

ISPR says one terrorist killed in Zarghoon, three in Tank

RAWALPINDI:

Five soldiers – three in the Zarghoon area of Balochistan and two in Tank, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – were martyred in gun battles with terrorists on Saturday.

According the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), one terrorist was killed and three soldiers were martyred when security forces retaliated against an attack on their check post in the Zarghoon area.

The military’s media wing stated that the post had recently been established to "check extortion efforts targeting coal mines in the area".

“Troops on the post retaliated readily to the fire raid thereby, pushing back the terrorists,” the ISPR stated.

The military identified the martyred soldiers as Sepoy Zaheer Ahmed, Sepoy Mudassir Shaheed, and Lance Naik Abdul Qadeer.

“Based on the follow-up ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) effort, likely hideout of fleeing terrorists has been identified in nearby mountains and a deliberate blocking and sanitisation operation has been launched,” the statement added.

The operation is “progressing well and security forces are maintaining pressure to deny terrorists escape from the area”.

“Security forces, in step with the nation, remain determined to thwart attempts at sabotaging peace, stability and progress of the province,” the statement added.

Read Soldier martyred in North Waziristan skirmish with terrorists

Separately, security forces conducted an intelligence based operation in general area Tank, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, on reported presence of terrorists.

During conduct of the operation, the ISPR said, “intense fire exchange took place between security forces and terrorists, resulting in killing of 3 x terrorists”.

“The killed terrorists have remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as innocent citizens.”

However, it said, during fierce fire exchange, “Naik Muhammad Atiq (age 39 years, resident of District Chakwal) & Naik Rajab Ali (age 36 years, resident of District Attock) having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat”.

“Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found there.”

Earlier this week, a soldier was martyred in a skirmish with terrorists in the Loesam area of Bajaur district. The military's media wing added that during the exchange of fire, one terrorist was also killed.

The martyred sepoy was identified by the military as Shafiq ur Rehman, age 23 from DI Khan. "Sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area," added the ISPR.