SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Five soldiers were martyred and another was injured when terrorists attacked a security check-post in the Sara Rogha area of South Waziristan tribal district late Thursday night.

Police said that the martyred soldiers belonged to 223 Wing of Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force which has been fighting militants in the tribal districts. Officials said that terrorists used light and heavy weapons in the attack.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Naib Subaidar Shahid Anwar, Naik Ahmad Khan, Lance Naik Shehryar and Sepoys Ayub and Shahzad and the injured as Shahid Afzal.

No group has accepted res­pon­sibility for the attack yet.

A resident of Sara Rogha, Iqbal Mehsud, told Dawn that heavy firing started late night and continued for a long time. The local people came out of their houses after hearing gun shots.

Later, police and paramilitary forces conducted a house-to-house search operation in the area to arrest perpetrators of the attack.

Sara Rogha was cleared of terrorists after security forces conducted Operation Rah-i-Nijat in 2009.

However, recently attacks have taken place on security forces in the areas of Ahmadzai Wazir and Mehsud tribes of South Waziristan district. Two soldiers were martyred and five others injured when an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle and exploded near Wana, the administrative headquarters of South Waziristan, on Sunday night.

Officials said that militants had also suffered heavy casualties in clashes with the security forces, which had resulted in the killing of 60 terrorists, including 10 key leaders.

Following an attack on security forces, the district administration imposed curfew in Wana and its adjacent areas on Wednesday.

Residents said that the administration lifted curfew on Friday after negotiations with the local elders. Earlier local people staged a demonstration near Wana to protest against curfew.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2021