Three soldiers martyred in gunfight with terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district: ISPR

Three Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in the Arawali area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district on Thursday during a gunfight with terrorists, according to a press release from the military’s media wing.

The statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) identified the martyrs as 42-year-old Subedar Shuja Muhammad from Khairpur, 32-year-old Naik Muhammad Ramzan from Khuzdar, and 30-year-old Sepoy Abdul Rehman from Sukkur.

“On 29 December 22, an exchange of fire took place between terrorists and security forces in the general area of Arawali, Kurram District. Own troops fought bravely and effectively engaged the terrorists’ location,” the ISPR said.

“During an intense exchange of fire, two terrorists were killed. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists,” it said, adding that the killed terrorists remained actively involved in terror activities against security forces.

The statement added that sanitisation of the area was being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area.

“Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the military’s media wing concluded.

Earlier this week, five Pakistan Army personnel were martyred in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) during a clearance operation in Balochistan’s Kahan area.

The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the banned militant Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group, the ISPR had said.

Pakistan is seeing an uptick in terrorist attacks across the country after the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its months-long ceasefire with the government last month.

Recent weeks and months have seen a resurgence of militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the southern belt, and merged districts, with increasing intensity of attacks on law enforcement personnel.