Fallen hero had married martyrs widow, leaves behind 3 daughters

RAWALPINDI: Major Adeel Shahid, the army major who was martyred along with a sepoy in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Mohmand tribal district on Friday, was married to the widow of a captain who had also embraced martyrdom a few years ago.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor, Major Adeel Shahid and Sepoy Faraz Hussain “fell victim to an IED planted by terrorists from across the border”.

The tweet further said the squad under the martyred officer was supervising fencing work in an area “which carried [a] critical infiltration route”.

Major Adeel Shahid & Sepoy Faraz Hussain embraced shahadat on Pak-Afg Border in Mohmand Distt. Squad under shaheed offr was supervising fencing work in an area which carried critical infiltration route. Shaheeds fell victim to an IED planted by terrorists from across the border. pic.twitter.com/NtEVllHqtq

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) September 20, 2019

Major Adeel was the father of three girls, including a pair of 1.5-year-old twins.

Media reports on Saturday stated that the deceased hero had visited Karachi during Eid-ul Azha holidays and talked to his father by telephone just two days before he fell victim to the terrorists’ attack.

Meanwhile, the body of Major Adeel Shahid was taken to Karachi where was buried on Saturday whereas the bodies of the shaheed sepoys were also buried in their respective hometowns.

On Saturday, at least four Pakistan Army soldiers embraced martyrdom near Pakistan-Afghan border in Dir.

In another incident in Dir, suspected militants had opened fire from across the Pak-Afghan border on Pakistan Army troops who were busy in border fencing. “3 soldiers embraced shahadat while 1 got injured” in the incident, the ISPR said.

The personnel martyred had incident included Lance Naik Said Amin Afridi, aged 28, a resident of District Khyber; Lance Naik Muhammad Shoaib Swati, a 31-year-old resident of District Manshera; and Sepoy Kashif Ali, aged 22, a resident of District Nowshera.

The attacks come less than two months after 10 Pakistani armed forces personnel were martyred by militants, six of them in a cross-border attack in North Waziristan district and four others in an assault in Kech district of Balochistan.

The FO had last month asked Afghanistan to fulfil its commitment for the elimination of terrorist hideouts along the Pak-Afghan border.

“As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not fire across the Pak-Afghan border. Cross-border attacks by terrorists on army/FC posts are responded to in self-defence only,” a foreign ministry statement had said at the time.

Pakistani forces have conducted a series of operations against militant groups in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the years. While officials say the area has largely been pacified, small attacks continue to take place.