ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Army soldier was killed on Saturday when security forces traded fire with militants during an intelligence-based operation in northwestern Pakistan, the army’s media wing said.
Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has seen multiple clashes between security forces and militants during September. On Sept. 6, the army said 12 militants and four soldiers were killed in an operation in the Lower Chitral area bordering Afghanistan.
On Sept. 10, seven militants were killed while six were critically wounded during another encounter between security forces and militants in Chitral district. On Sept. 11, a paramilitary soldier was killed while seven others were critically wounded when a blast targeted a security forces convoy in KP’s Peshawar city.
Saturday’s gunbattle took place in the tribal area of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). “However, during the operation, Sepoy Shakeel Shafqat (age 21 years, resident of District Khanewal), having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat [martyrdom],” the army’s media wing said.
“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve.”
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban have mounted attacks on the country’s western regions ever since the takeover of Kabul by the Afghan Taliban in August 2021. Pakistan has also seen an uptick in violence, particularly in KP, since a fragile truce between the state and the banned outfit broke down in November 2022.
The TTP, which seeks to impose its strict version of Islam in the South Asian country, has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces since 2007 before the army conducted multiple operations to drive them out of the tribal areas.
