The funeral prayers of two army officers, who were among seven martyred yesterday in a terrorist attack on a security forces’ post in North Waziristan, were offered on Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

At 6:15am on Saturday, a group of six militants stormed the Frontier Corps’ post in the Khaddi market area in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali area. The militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate, followed by multiple blasts, including a suicide bombing, said local officials.

Seven soldiers — including Lieutenant Colonel Syed Kashif Ali Shaheed, 39, resident of Karachi and Captain Muhammad Ahmed Badar Shaheed, 23, resident of Talagang — were martyred in the attack. Six terrorists were also neutralised in the subsequent clearance operation.

A group affiliated with Hafiz Gul Bahadur, previously a government contractor and a good Taliban-turned-militant leader, claimed responsibility for the attack. Bahadur’s outfit is the strongest militant group in North Waziristan. He was flushed out in Operation Zarb-i-Azb in 2014 and fled to Afghanistan.

In the early hours of Sunday, the funeral prayers of the two officers were offered at Chaklala Garrison Rawalpindi, according to the military’s media wing.

President Asif Ali Zardari, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir attended the prayers, along with other senior serving military and civil officers, relatives of the martyred officials, and locals of the area.

“The Pakistan Army has consistently upheld the ideals of faith, unity and discipline. Guided by these enduring principles, the Pakistan Army has always endeavoured to set higher benchmarks of professionalism and loyalty in its unrelenting fight against terrorism,” the ISPR statement quoted President Zardari as saying.

“This noble sacrifice stands as another glorious testament to the unflinching resolve of our gallant sons, who have never hesitated to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the defence of our motherland. The whole nation stands in solidarity with our armed forces’’, the president said.

President Zardari further said, “Pakistan has decided that whoever will enter our borders, homes or country and commit terror, we will respond to them strongly, regardless of who it is or from which country.”

“The bodies of the martyred have been taken to their native home towns where they will be laid to rest with full military honour,” the ISPR stated.

Resurgent terrorism

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in 2023 year, especially in KP and Balochistan after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

The ISPR said earlier this month 10 militants were killed in two separate operations by security forces in the North Waziristan district. It added that Pakistan expected the Afghan government to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists.

Last month, a late-night attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan was repulsed. Gunmen had mounted an attack using heavy weapons but fled in the cover of darkness when police personnel fired back.

In December last year, 23 soldiers were martyred and more than 30 troops wounded after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) stormed a compound used by the military in Dera Ismail Khan’s Daraban area.

According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 — marking a record six-year high.

KP and Balochistan were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.