4 Pakistan Army soldiers martyred in firing by militants near Afghan border: ISPR – Pakistan

Four soldiers from the Pakistan Army were martyred and another was injured in two separate incidents of militant shooting near the Afghan border, the army media wing said on Saturday.

The first incident occurred in the North Waziristan tribal district, where criminals opened fire on a routine patrol group of security forces near the Abba Khel area in Spinwam Tehsil on Friday night, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

As a result, Sepoy Akhtar Hussain, 23, a resident of the Baltistan district, embraced martyrdom.

"In exchange for fire, two criminals [were] killed, "said the ISPR.

In a separate incident in Dir, suspected terrorists opened fire from the other side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border against Pakistan army troops that were occupied in the border fence.

"3 soldiers hugged shahadat while I was injured "in the incident, the army media wing said.

The personnel martyred in the second incident includes Lance Naik Said Amin Afridi, 28, a resident of the Khyber District; Lance Naik Muhammad Shoaib Swati, a 31-year-old resident of the Manshera District; and Sepoy Kashif Ali, 22, a resident of Nowshera District.

Later in the day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) summoned the Afghan Affairs Officer to file a formal protest against the shooting incident.

"There was a strong campaign for the latest shooting incident against a Pakistan military contingent committed to completing the near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," the FO said in a statement.

"The unprovoked shots resulted in the martyrdom of three Pakistani soldiers while seriously injuring one of them," the FO statement said. He added: "Although he strongly condemned the attack, it was stressed that the Afghan side was responsible for securing the areas on its side of the border, as they mutually agreed on several occasions."

According to the statement, Pakistan once again calls on the Afghan government to do what is necessary to secure border areas, especially along sensitive points, to maintain the level of cooperation necessary to effectively counter terrorist elements in their areas. .

The attacks occur less than two months after 10 members of the Pakistani armed forces were martyred by militants, six of them in a cross-border attack in the North Waziristan district and another four in an assault in the Kech district of Balochistan . The ambush in North Waziristan was claimed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The FO had asked Afghanistan last month to fulfill its commitment to eliminate terrorist hiding places along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not fire across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Cross-border terrorist attacks on army / FC posts are answered only in self-defense, ”said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time.

Pakistani forces have carried out a series of operations against militant groups in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the years. While authorities say the area has been largely pacified, small attacks continue to occur.