QUETTA: Three security personnel, a lieutenant colonel among them, were martyred and a Frontier Corps (FC) commander and two others injured when their convoy was ambushed by suspected militants in the Shangar area of Panjgur district on Monday morning.

The newly appointed FC commander, Col Shah­jeeullah, was touring his command area when armed men, hiding in the mountains, launched an attack on the convoy near the Shangar area.

As a result of heavy firing, three personnel of the FC lost their lives while three others were injured.

“Three FC personnel, including a lieutenant colonel, were martyred in an armed attack by militants,” official sources confirmed, adding that Col Shahjeeullah and two other FC soldiers suffered injuries.

The lieutenant colonel was identified as Aamir Waqar, while the other deceased men were identified as Maqsood and Sepoy Irfan.

The injured were identified as Havaldar Saud and Sepoy Attaur Rehman. They were shifted to a nearby health facility along with the commander.

Source claimed that Col Shahjeeullah had recently been appointed commander of the area and had not taken charge of his new assignment as yet.

They added that security forces cordoned off the area where the incident took place and launched a search operation there to trace the miscreants.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2017