Five soldiers embraced martyrdom foiling a terrorism bid on three border checkpoints in Mohmand Agency on late Sunday night while Pakistan has decided to temporarily open two border crossings with Afghanistan that were closed after a string of militant attacks Pakistani soil.
According to a statement issued by Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), at least 10 terrorists were also killed in the shoot-out between army personnel and terrorists.
“Terrorists must be denied freedom of movement along the border,” Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa was quoted as saying in the statement. He lauded the immediate response of the personnel. However, he also expressed grief over the loss of precious lives. Expressing grief on loss of precious lives COAS hailed the sacrifice made by brave sons of soil.
The martyred soldiers include Sanaullah, Safdar, Altaf, Nek Muhammad and Anwar.
The Torkham and Chaman crossings will be open Tuesday and Wednesday and Afghans with valid visas will be allowed to return home, as will Pakistanis who travelled to Afghanistan with valid visas, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
Splinted Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Jumaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed the responsibility for attacking Pakistan’s security forces check posts. Through a telephonic call, spokesperson Qari Ihsanullah claimed inflicting huge human and logistic losses to Pakistani troops in Suran area of Mohmand Agency.
Meanwhile, reports from Kunar province of Afghanistan confirmed killing of at least seven militants in attack against Pakistan’s security forces check posts just on Pak Afghan border in Mohmand Agency. Qari Ihsanullah Ihsan told media that at least five personnel of security forces were abducted after killing a number of others and destroying at least three posts.
The killed militants included Commander Kochay a notorious militant associated with TTP JA. He belonged to Mohmand Agency.
Soon after attack, Pakistani with help of air squads conducted raids and strikes in the area. However, there is no further detail of search operation, going on in Suran and Baizai areas of Mohmand Agency bordering with Afghanistan.
Pakistan has shut the two main crossings with Afghanistan three weeks ago after a wave of suicide bombings that authorities said was linked to a group operating on the other side of the border.
Several Pakistani military offensives have targeted the bases and infrastructure used by the militants in the country’s tribal regions, and Islamabad says some of the groups have shifted to sanctuaries across the Afghan border.
The militants have shown the ongoing capability to launch large-scale attacks, such as a string of suicide bombings last month that killed over 125. One single bombing killed 90 worshippers at a famed Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan.
The Pakistani Taliban, their allied local militants and the Islamic State group have claimed the brazen attacks.
Last month’s string of militant attacks in Pakistan prompted fresh tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, with Islamabad claiming they were planned and executed by militants enjoying safe haven across the border. Afghanistan has repeatedly made similar accusations about Afghan militants hiding inside Pakistan.
A spokesman for the provincial governor in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, Attaullah Khogyani, termed the Pakistani allegation baseless.
The Pakistani government has shut two main border crossings with Afghanistan for the past three weeks and Pakistani artillery has fired across the border.
On Monday the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that the Afghan deputy head of mission was summoned to lodge a formal protest with Kabul over the cross-border attack. It demanded Afghanistan to take firm action against the militants operating from its soil.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, one of the local groups, has surfaced as one of the deadliest militant factions. The group, which is based in the Mohmand tribal region, has claimed several major attacks over the past year.