DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The funeral of Brig Mustafa Kamal Barki was held at the Baisakhi Ground on Wednesday.

Brig Barki was martyred on Tuesday in an exchange of fire with terrorists in the Angoor Ada area of South Waziristan. Seven other security personnel were also injured.

The funeral prayer was led by Qari Khalil Ahmad Siraj and attended by Station Commander Brig Muha­m­mad Rashid, RPO Dera Abdul Ghafur Afridi, District Police Officer Abdul Rauf Babar Qaiserani and a large number of people from all walks of life.

Later, another funeral of the martyred brigadier was held at Race Course Rawalpindi, ISPR said, which was attended by the top civil and military leadership of the country.

President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, COAS Gen­ Asim Munir, DG ISI Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum and a large number of serving and retired officers and soldiers, parliamentarians and others attended the funeral.

Later, the officer was buried at the army graveyard with full military honours in acknowledgement of his services to the nation.

According to ISPR, throu­ghout his military career, Brig Barki was involved in active counter-terrorism operations and successfully dismantled numerous terrorist networks in KP and Balochistan. He was instrumental in neutralising the terrorist networks involved in the 2014 APS attack, ISPR said.

Brig Barki leaves behind a wife, a son and a daughter.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2023