NORTH WAIRISTAN / MUZAF­FAR­ABAD: Four soldiers were martyred in exchanges of fire with terrorists and Indian forces in North Waziristan tribal district and along the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, security forces conducted two intelligence-based operations in the tribal district during which two wanted terrorists, including an improvised explosive device expert, were killed.

In the exchange of fire, three security personnel embraced martyrdom. They were identified as Sepoy Azaib Ahmed, a resident of Karak; Sepoy Zia Ul Islam, a resident of Bannu, and Lance Naik Abbas Khan, a resident of Orakzai tribal district.

The bodies were airlifted to Bannu.

Sources said that operations were conducted in tehsil Datakhel near the Afghan border. Security forces cleared hideouts in the Manzerkhel area. The sources said that IEDs expert Zaar Jamil alias Saqib hailing from Manzerkhel had been killed in one of the operations. Jamil carried head money of Rs1 million and was wanted to the police’s Counter Terrorism Department in a number of cases. Jamil was head of the Toofan Group, an offshoot of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and was already booked in several cases.

In AJK, a Pakistan Army soldier embraced martyrdom along the restive LoC during an ‘intense’ exchange of fire with Indian army.

“Indian troops initiated unprovoked ceasefire violations along the LoC in Dewa sector. Pakistan Army troops responded promptly and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy in terms of men and material,” said the army’s media affairs wing in a brief statement.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2021