• 47 terrorists eliminated in two-day operation along Pak-Afghan border
• Three soldiers, woman martyred in spate of attacks in Lakki Marwat
QUETTA / LAKKI MARWAT: Security forces have thwarted yet another terrorist infiltration attempt in the Sambaza area of Balochistan’s Zhob district, eliminating 14 terrorists, the military’s media wing said on Friday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the latest action brings the total number of terrorists killed in the last two days to 47, following successful operations by security forces in Sambaza. This adds to the earlier neutralisation of 33 militants.
“Following the successful engagements by the security forces in the general area Sambaza, Zhob district, on Aug 7-8 night, during which 33 Khwarij were sent to hell; on the night of Aug 8-9, a deliberate sanitisation operation was conducted in the surrounding areas of Sambaza along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” the ISPR said.
“During the conduct of the operation, 14 more Indian sponsored Khwarij were hunted down and successfully neutralised. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed Khwarij,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“The number of Khwarij killed in two days anti-infiltration operation has risen to 47,” it said, adding that the security forces “remain committed to securing the nation’s frontiers and thwarting attempts at sabotaging peace, stability and progress of Pakistan”.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday praised the security forces for eliminating 47 militants during the last two days.
The president observed that it was the biggest success of the security forces, the President’s Secretariat said in a statement, according to APP.
He reiterated the government’s resolve to eradicate terrorism, stressing that the nation stands united behind the security forces in their fight against militancy.
PM Shehbaz also praised the forces’ timely actions, which successfully foiled the militants’ infiltration attempt. “The entire nation is standing with the security forces in the fight against terrorism,” he said, reaffirming his commitment to the eradication of terrorism in all its forms from Pakistan, the PM Office said.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also paid tribute to the security forces, commending their professionalism and swift actions.
“The nation looks with admiration at the successes of the security forces against the terrorists of the Indian conspiracy. The security forces have brought the Indian-sponsored terrorists involved in spreading chaos in Balochistan to an exemplary end,” he said in a post on X.
In May, the government officially designated all terrorist organisations operating in Balochistan as “Fitna al-Hindustan”, aiming to highlight India’s alleged role in fomenting instability and violence in the region.
Lakki Marwat attacks
In a series of militant attacks across Lakki Marwat district, three soldiers and a woman were martyred, while three others, including two soldiers, sustained injuries, police and rescue officials said on Saturday.
The first incident took place on Friday evening in the Tatta Bashikhel area, where Merajuddin, a clerk in the Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan, who had been on leave for the past week, was attacked.
“The FC official and his cousin Fareedullah were sitting outside their home when two armed suspects wearing masks suddenly appeared from the eastern side,” a police official said, quoting an FIR.
The attackers opened fire as Meraj and Fareed attempted to flee towards the house. Meraj’s wife, Nusrat Bibi, rushed out upon hearing the gunshots and attempted to shield her husband, but was also gunned down by the assailants.
Both Meraj and Nusrat were gravely wounded, and the FC personnel succumbed to his injuries on the spot, while his wife died en route to a hospital in Bannu.
Following the attack, a large police contingent was dispatched to the rural area to search for the assailants.
In another attack on Saturday, a soldier of the Frontier Corps, Sepoy Jehangir Khan, was martyred in the Mir Hazar Khanzadkhel area.
According to officials, Jehangir and his cousin Asmatullah were grazing cattle when two armed motorcyclists wearing masks opened fire on them. Jehangir was killed on the spot and his cousin was injured. The body and the injured were later transferred to the District Headquarters Hospital at Tajazai.
In yet another attack, a former soldier of the Pakistan Army, Habibullah Khan, 55, was shot dead by a group of seven militants near a rainwater course in the Ghazikhel area. The attackers, who fled towards the Karmukhel Mountain, also took away an AK-47 assault rifle from the martyred soldier.
In a separate incident, two soldiers were injured when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) near Abdulkhel on Saturday.
Officials said that the roadside bomb, planted by “terrorists from the Fitna al-Khawarij group”, exploded as the soldiers were on patrol. The injured soldiers, Mohammad Salim and Mohammad Malook, were immediately shifted to the Government City Hospital. Rescue 1122 dispatched medical teams and ambulances to the scene.
Authorities later cordoned off the area and launched a combing operation in an effort to capture the attackers.
Bannu’s Regional Police Officer Sajjad Khan visited the Tatta Bashikhel area to offer his condolences to the family of the martyred FC official Merajuddin. He expressed his sorrow for the loss and assured the family that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
“The martyred security personnel are the pride of the nation and the supreme sacrifices offered by them will not go in vain,” he said.
Mr Sajjad also expressed his heartfelt condolences and sympathies with the family of martyred policeman Rukh Niaz Khan in the Kalan Tughalkhel area of Bannu.
Constable Khan had embraced martyrdom in a fierce gun battle with terrorists in the Fatehkhel area of Bannu last week.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025