Pakistan Army major martyred in Khyber gunbattle

• Incident takes place in Khyber's Shakas area.
• Three terrorists and their facilitators arrested.
• The sanitisation of the area is underway.

RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan Army major embraced martyrdom during a gunbattle with terrorists in district Khyber's Shakas area, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Thursday.

The incident took place when security forces launched an intelligence-based operation (IBO) between the night of July 5-6 in the area after they received information about the presence of terrorists, the ISPR said.

Major Mian Abdullah Shah, leading the operation from the front, spotted a part of the militants after the "establishment of blocking positions to cut the escape routes of terrorists was underway".

When the forces intercepted them, the ISPR said, a heavy exchange of fire ensued, resulting in the martyrdom of Major Shah — a 33-year-old resident of Kohat.

The forces then arrested three terrorists and their facilitators while a sanitisation operation is underway to eliminate any more terrorists in the area, the military's media wing said.

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

The development comes hours after at least three soldiers embraced martyrdom when a vehicle-borne suicide bomber exploded himself in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan district.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Sahib Khan, 41, a resident of Mianwali; Naik Muhammad Ibrahim, 40, a resident of Dera Ismail Khan; and Sepoy Jehangir Khan, 24, a resident of Mardan, the ISPR said, adding that three innocent civilians also sustained critical injuries in the suicide blast.

Three days back, a major was among two military personnel who embraced martyrdom when terrorists "tried to ambush" a "combat patrol of security forces" in the Balor area of Balochistan's Hoshab district.

As a result of the heavy exchange of fire, Major Saqib Hussain and Naik Baqir Ali embraced martydorm, while another soldier sustained injuries, the ISPR mentioned.