GWADAR: The young army major who was martyred in a suicide attack in Peshawar a day earlier had tied the knot only seven months ago.

Major Jamal Sheran Baloch, 31, originally hailed from Turbat, the headquarters of Balochis­tan’s Kech district.

He was born on Nov 11, 1986 in Turbat. He acquired his initial education at a local school in Turbat and joined the Pakistan Army in May 2006 after completing his intermediate from the Residential College Turbat.

He was commissioned in service in April 2008 after completing the two-year PMA Long Course.

He served the army in different roles in Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Azad Kashmir.

During Zarb-i-Azb, the military operation launched by then army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, he valiantly fought against terrorists in Bajaur, Khyber and Mohmand agencies. He was posted to the Frontier Corps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa two years ago.

He also took part in the counterterrorism operation Raddul Fasaad. As the commanding officer of the FC’s Special Operation Group in KP, he led various successful strikes against terrorists.

He had married only seven months ago.

Major Sheran was martyred when a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into an FC vehicle at a busy roundabout in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area on Monday. The attack also left 10 other people, including three soldiers, injured.

The blast came a day after the military announc­ed launching a new operation in remote Rajgal valley of Khyber Agency to keep check on the influx of members of the militant Islamic State group from Afghanis­tan.

Major Sheran’s father is a retired officer of the Oman army and has been the president of traders’ association in Turbat.

The officer’s body was flown to Karachi and thence to Turbat in a special plane. He was laid to rest at a cemetery in Pathan Kahoor after his funeral prayers were offered in the Turbat football ground.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017