RAWALPINDI: Four army men were martyred during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in North Waziristan, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday.
The Inter-Services Public Relations in a statement said: “During operation, 7 terrorists killed. In intense exchange of fire, 4 security forces personnel embraced shahadat including an officer, while 1 soldier got injured.” The forces recovered a huge amount of arms, ammunition, and IEDs from the hideout in Datta Khel town of North Waziristan.
The martyred were identified as Lieutenant Agha Muqadas Ali khan, Lance Havaldar Qamar Nadeem, Sepoy Muhammad Qasim, and Sepoy Tauseef.
Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout in a former Taliban stronghold bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday, triggering a shootout that killed four soldiers and seven militants, the military said. In a statement, the military said a member of the raiding team, which was acting on intelligence it received, was also wounded in the exchange of fire near the town of Dattakhel in the district of North Waziristan. Security forces later seized a cache of weapons and guns, it said.
The military provided no further details but police and intelligence officials said the suspects belonged to a Pakistani militant group and were planning to carry out attacks.
North Waziristan served as the Pakistan Taliban headquarters until 2017 after security forces in a series of operations dismantled their network and killed, arrested or evicted scores of them. Also targeted were al-Qaida members and those sheltering them.
Residents say a large number of civilians were also killed in those military operations. The Pakistani government and the military claim they cleared the region of militants but violence has continued.
