Major, sepoy martyred in Orakzai clash

Five militants killed; Gen Bajwa says country to be purged of rioters

KALAYA: Two soldiers, including a major and five militants, were killed in a clash in the Uthmankhel locality in lower parts of Orakzai Agency, official sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said security forces were informed about the presence of militants at a house in Uthmankhel in the lower parts of Orakzai Agency. Security forces, the sources said, besieged the house to arrest the militants.However, the militants opened fire on the raiding party instead of surrendering themselves.

A Major identified as Mudassar Sagheer and Sepoy Matiullah were killed in the firing, the sources said, adding, the soldiers returned the fire and killed five militants, including a commander, in the retaliatory fire.

The slain soldiers were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Kohat. Security forces launched a massive search operation in the area after the clash. Meanwhile, the Namaz-e-Janaza of Maj Mudasar Sagheer and Sepoy Matiullah were offered at the Corps Headquarters, Peshawar.

Corps Commander Peshawar Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt and other civil and military officials attended the funeral prayers.  Earlier, two scouts were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Angoor Ada.

Meanwhile, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in a special message for the Pakistan Day (March 23), pledged to rid the country of all Fasaadi elements spreading riot. In the video message shared by the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), COAS General Qamar Bajwa vowed to clean up Pakistan from the rioters. “On March 23, 1940 we resolved to create Pakistan and we succeeded. Now let us all pledge to clean our country from the Fasaadi elements,” the army chief stated.