PESHAWAR: An officer and a soldier lost their lives in a gunfight between security forces and militants in Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency on Monday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

Six terrorists were also killed in the shootout in the mountainous area adjacent to Afghanistan, where troops launched a ground offensive on Aug 20, said the military’s media wing.

Lt Col Faisal Malik, who was killed in the fighting, belonged to Abbottabad district.

The army had announced on Thursday that a ground offensive had been launched in Shawal to wipe out militant sanctuaries. Before the offensive, military planes carried out air strikes in the area, killing around 100 militants including two would-be suicide bombers.

The offensive, preceded by Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif’s visit to North Waziristan, has been billed as the final and decisive phase of Operation Zarb-i-Azb that was launched in June last year.

A tribal elder, who belongs to North Waziristan but is currently living in Bannu because of fighting in his native place, told Dawn by phone that the ongoing action had triggered displacement of civilians from Shawal. A large number of families fled to Afghanistan because other routes were blocked, he added.

Our Correspondent adds from Dera Ismail Khan: Sources said the exchange of fire took place after militants belonging to the Mehsud Taliban group ambushed a convoy of security forces in Lwar Pungai.

Azam Tariq, the spokesman for the Mehsud Taliban, called Dawn from an unspecified location and said his group had carried out the attack. He claimed that 50 soldiers were killed and 10 vehicles destroyed, adding that one militant suffered minor injuries in the attack.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2015

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