LANDI KOTAL: A junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the army was martyred in an attack carried out by militants from across the Afghan border on a security checkpost in the Sandana area of Sipah in the Tirah Valley on Tuesday.

Officials identified the dead as JCO Azhar Ali and said Naik Shahid Naseem was also injured in the attack.

They said the attack was carried out from Nazian district of Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

According to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the area where the checkpost came under attack is near the Mustil pass, an important passage from Afghanistan into Rajgal, Khyber Agency. It said the area had recently been cleared by the army.

The body and the injured soldier were evacuated by an army helicopter and shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar.

The ISPR said funeral prayers for the martyred soldier were offered at the Peshawar Garrison late on Tuesday. The body will be taken to the deceased’s native town where he will be laid to rest with full military honours.

Tuesday’s attack was the second of its type in the Tirah Valley since Sept 23 when an army official, Lieutenant Arsalan, embraced martyrdom in a similar ambush.

The banned group Lashkar-i-Islam had claimed responsibility for the attack which had been carried out in the Rajgal area.

Meanwhile, two soldiers were injured when a military vehicle overturned in the Painda Cheena area of Tirah on Tuesday.

The injured soldiers were taken to a nearby military medical camp,where their condition was stated to be stable.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2017