Five Pakistani security personnel, including an army major, were martyred while seven militants were killed during a sanitisation operation in Balochistan’s Barkhan district, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), troops of the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps Balochistan launched the operation in the Nosham area on the morning of May 13.
The ISPR said security forces engaged a group of militants during the operation, killing seven of them. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the site.
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However, during the intense exchange of fire, five security personnel embraced martyrdom.
The martyred personnel were identified as Major Tauseef Ahmed Bhatti, 31, a resident of Pakpattan, Naik Fida Hussain, 36, from Sukkur, Sepoy Zakir Hussain, 32, from Skardu, Sepoy Suhail Ahmed, 21, from Khanewal, and Sepoy Muhammad Ayaz, 24, from Rahim Yar Khan.
The military said sanitisation operations in the surrounding areas were continuing to eliminate any remaining militants.
The ISPR added that security forces and law enforcement agencies would continue counter-terrorism operations under the “Azm-e-Istehkam” campaign to eliminate militancy from the country.