RAWALPINDI: Two soldiers were martyred when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near a convoy of security forces in North Waziristan district’s Razmak area, the military’s media wing said Wednesday.
In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the soldiers who lost their lives were identified as Lance Naik Ehsan Badshah, 33, resident of Karak district, and Lance Naik Sajid Hussain, 30, resident of Kurram district.
The military’s media wing added that a sanitisation operation was being carried out “to eliminate any terrorists present in the area”.
It noted that Pakistan’s security forces are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of “our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve”.
The development comes a day after the security forces gunned down three terrorists in two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan and South Waziristan districts.
A 26-year-old soldier — Sepoy Shahzeb, belonging to Rawalpindi — had also embraced martyrdom after an IED exploded in the general area of Gharyoum, North Waziristan.
Pakistan has faced a surge in terrorism in recent months, with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant outfits intensifying their actions against security forces.
In response, the state has also launched operations to curb terrorism. Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), in a report released in October, noted that the security forces lost at least 386 personnel in the first nine months of 2023, marking an eight-year high.
In the third quarter of 2023, some 445 people lost their lives and 440 suffered injuries from as many as 190 terror attacks and counter-terror operations.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were the primary centres of violence, accounting for nearly 94% of all fatalities and 89% of attacks (including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations) recorded during this period. –Agencies
