Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday paid tribute to an officer who embraced martyrdom during an exchange of fire in Tirah Valley’s Bagh area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Khyber district, the Prime Minister’s office said in a notification on Sunday.

According to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) today, an exchange of fire took place between security forces and terrorists on August 9 during which Lieutenant Uzair Mehmood Malik was injured.

He succumbed to his injuries and embraced martyrdom at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) today, it said.

“At one of the locations in Bagh, Lieutenant Uzair Mehmood Malik, leading his troops from the front, fought bravely and sent four Khawarij to hell,” the statement said.

“However, during an intense fire exchange, the officer got critically injured and was under treatment at CMH Peshawar. Today he succumbed to injuries and embraced Shahadat.”

The statement added that the security forces of Pakistan were determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.

“Such sacrifices of our brave officers and soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” It said.

According to a notification issued by PMO today, the premier prayed for the martyred officer and his family.

He said that the military was “cleaning” Pakistan from Fitna-ul-Khawarij, adding that the entire nation paid tribute to officers.

Shehbaz said that the entire nation stood by the army in Pakistan’s war against terrorism, adding that the martyrs and their families were the pride of the country.

Separately, President Asif Ali Zardari also paid tribute to the lieutenant for sacrificing his life in the defence of the country and offered condolence to the family members of the deceased.

The president said that the operations against the terrorist elements in the country would continue, a notification issued by the President House said

While it wasn’t mentioned in the statement which terrorist group was involved in the attack, ISPR Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had said last week that the government recently notified Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as “Fitna al-Khawarij”.

“From now on, we will use the term Fitna al-Khawarij to refer to the TTP, while all terrorists associated with the group would be termed khariji or khawarij (outcasts)”, he said.

“This is because it is a mischief-making group; it’s neither an ideology nor has anything to do with Islam or Pakistan,” he asserted.

He said that 139 soldiers embraced martyrdom during the first seven months of the year.

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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.

In June, the security forces “neutralised” 11 terrorists who were involved in the attack on seven security officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat.

An army officer was martyred and three terrorists were killed during an IBO in Balochistan’s Zhob district in May.

In a separate incident, 17 terrorists were killed and another two were injured on May 27 in two separate operations conducted by security forces in KP.