Army chief awards gallantry medals

Confers 30 Tamgha-e-Bisalat, 33 Sitara-e-Imtiaz (military), and one UN Medal on officers and soldiers

ISLAMABAD: Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Tuesday conferred military awards on army troops who performed acts of gallantry in Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan Agency.  According to the military’s media wing, ISPR, a large number of military officials and relatives of ‘Shuhada and Ghazis’ attended the investiture ceremony that was held at the General Headquarters in the garrison city.

Thirty officers and soldiers were awarded Tamgha-e-Bisalat, 33 officers were awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz (military), and one soldier was awarded UN Medal, said the ISPR in a statement. “Medals of Shuhada were received by their family members,” it added.

The full-scale military offensive in restive North Wazirstian Agency was launched in June last year after government’s efforts to strike a peace deal with militants failed following a brazen attack on the Karachi airport.  The military claims it has cleared most areas of the agency, which had become a hotbed of militants of all hues. Recently, the process of repatriation of tens of thousands of displaced tribesmen has also begun.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2015.