DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Unknown armed men abducted four members, including a woman, of a polio monitoring team in Tank district on Tuesday.

Tank deputy commissioner Mohammad Shoaib said that four people, including a woman, who were part of a team monitoring the ongoing anti-polio campaign in the district, were abducted from Kiri Umar Khan village. He said that they included Shaila Noor, Zulfikar, Mohammad Shoaib, and driver Waheed.

However, he said that the kidnappers set free the woman and the driver immediately afterwards, and took the other two men with them.

Tank district police officer Iftikhar Shah said that immediately after receiving information about the abduction, a heavy contingent was sent to the spot to trace the kidnappers.

He said that the polio monitoring team members were performing their duty in the remote area without security.

Meanwhile, two security personnel were martyred and two militants were killed in separate clashes with security forces in North and South Waziristan tribal districts on Monday.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing, in a statement said that two fierce encounters took place between troops and the terrorists in North and South Waziristan districts. It said that the first engagement occurred in Asman Munza area of South Waziristan district, where security forces effectively engaged the terrorists. It said that as a result of the exchange of fire, one terrorist was skilled and another was injured.

The ISPR statement said that during intense exchange of fire, Sepoy Sajid Azam, 31, a resident of Kotli district of Azad Kashmir, embraced martyrdom, having fought gallantly.

In another intense fire exchange between the troops and terrorists in Miran Shaharea of North Waziristan district, a terrorist was killed, and a sepoy Waris Khan, 27, a resident of Karak district, was martyred.

“Sanitisation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area. Security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR said in the statement.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2023