ZIARAT – A soldier of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in a search operation in which five terrorists were killed in the Ziarat area of Balochistan on Friday.
The operation was being carried out a day after body of Lieutenant Colonel Laiq Baig Mirza was found. Mirza and his cousin Omer Javed were kidnapped by a group of 10-12 terrorists near Warchoom, Ziarat, a few days ago, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. They were returning to Quetta after visiting Quaid-e-Azam’s residency. However, hunt is still on to recover Javed.
A brief statement issued by the ISPR said that a hideout of terrorists was identified near Khost in the Khilafat Mountains, located in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
An operation was conducted on the night between July 14 and 15. As the security forces encircled the hideout, terrorists opened fire on the troops. As a result, Havaldar Khan Muhammad was martyred.
Later, in a followup clearance operation, five terrorists of the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were killed in a heavy exchange of fire.