ISLAMABAD: Two officers among six people embraced martyrdom while eight terrorists were killed in a fire exchange in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district on Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
According to a statement issued by the military’s media wing, during an intense fire exchange between a “security forces convoy and Khwarij”, Captain Abuzar Farooq, 23, from Gujranwala and Lieutenant Sheraz Babar, 22, hailing from Chakwal, “who were leading their troops from the front, fought gallantly and paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced martyrdom along with their four men”.
According to images released by the ISPR, the other four men included Sepoy Shakeel Ahmed, Sepoy Hamza, and Sepoy Muhammad Usman Aziz and non-combatant Ghulam Sajjad.
On the other hand, “eight Khwarij belonging to Indian-sponsored Fitna al-Khwarij were sent to hell due to effective engagement by [our] own troops”, it added.
The state uses the term Fitna al-Khawarij for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
A sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area, the ISPR said.
It affirmed that the “relentless counterterrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i- Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.
“These sacrifices of our brave soldiers further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” the military’s media wing stated.
Sunday’s development came two days after a two-pronged assault near a mosque in the old Police Lines of KP’s Kohat district claimed 23 lives, including those of 17 policemen. Eight terrorists were killed during an overnight clearance operation launched to clear the area.
Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2026
