Soldier martyred in Tirah firing from Afghanistan

LANDIKOTAL: A non-commissioned officer of the Pakistan Army was martyred and another one sustained injuries when unidentified gunmen fired at them from the Afghanistan side of the border in Tirah valley in Khyber Agency, official sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said that Pakistan Army personnel were on a routine duty at a checkpost in Sandana area in upper Tirah valley on the Pak-Afghan border when the gunmen based across the border in Afghanistan’s Nazyan district began firing at them.

They added that Naib Subedar Azhar Khan and Naik Shahid Naseem sustained bullet injuries in the unprovoked attack. They were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Peshawar where Naib Subedar Azhar Khan succumbed to his injuries, the sources added. Naik Shahid Naseem was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition.

It may be recalled that Lieutenant Arsalan Alam of Pakistan Army was also martyred in a recent cross-border attack in Rajgal in the Tirah valley.

On that occasion also, the militants based in Afghanistan’s territory had fired at the Pakistani border checkpoint.