QUETTA / ISLAMABAD (ENNS/MD) Twenty security personnel, including six Army men, were martyred in two attacks in Balochistan’s Ormara area and North Waziristan tribal district on Thursday and late Wednesday.
Fourteen security men — seven personnel of the Frontier Corps and as many civilian guards employed by the OGDCL — were martyred in an armed attack on their convoy on the Coastal Highway in the Ormara area of Gwadar district.
Six troops, including a Pakistan Army captain, were martyred and one suffered injuries when two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) struck their vehicles in North Waziristan tribal district on Wednesday evening.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an encounter took place between security forces and a large number of terrorists on the Coastal Highway near Ormara when a convoy of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) staff was being escorted from Gwadar to Karachi.
Security forces responded effectively, ensured security of the OGDCL staff, and managed their safe exit from the area.
During the clash, substantial losses were also incurred to the terrorists, the ISPR said. As a result of this encounter, seven brave soldiers of FC Balochistan and as many security guards sacrificed their lives.
The martyred FC personnel were identified as Subedar Abid Hussain, resident of Layyah, Naik Muhammad Anwar of Sibi, Lance Naik Iftikhar Ahmed (Dera Ghazi Khan), Sepoy Muhammad Naveed (Chakwal), Lance Naik Abdul Latif (Pishin), Sepoy Muhammad Waris (Mianwali) and Sepoy Imran Khan (Lakki Marwat); and security guards Havaldar (retired) Samandar Khan and Muhammad Fawad Ullah (Lakki Marwat) Atta Ullah (Dera Ismail Khan), Waris Khan (Tank), Abdul Nafay and Shakir Ullah (Kohat) and Abid Hussain (Bannu).
The ISPR said that such cowardly acts by inimical elements to sabotage peace, stability and economic development in Balochistan would never be allowed to succeed.
The Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS), a banned militant organization, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet.
The ISPR on Thursday confirmed the martyrdom of six security personnel, including an Army captain, and injuries to one in the Wednesday’s North Waziristan attack.
The martyrs were identified as Captain Umar Farooq, Naib Subedar Riaz Ahmed, Naib Subedar Shakeel Azad, Havaldar Younas Khan, Naik Mohammad Nadeem and Lance Naik Asmat Ullah.
The banned Tehreek-i- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani said in a brief statement that members of his group carried out the attack in Shaktoi area.
