By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A roadside bomb killed five soldiers and wounded two others, including an officer, in the restive province of Balochistan on Saturday, the military said.
Security forces were conducting an operation in Buleda area of Kech District, when militants targeted their vehicle with an improvised explosive device (IED), according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
The explosion was followed by an exchange of gunfire between the two sides, in which three militants were killed.
“However, during the operation, five brave soldiers, having fought gallantly, sacrificed their lives and embraced shahadat (martyrdom),” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.”
Dawn newspaper reported that the blast targeted a security vehicle that was returning to the Gillisar checkpoint after patrolling the Buleda area of Kech district.
Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani told the newspaper that the explosive device was planted by unidentified militants who fled after a brief exchange of fire with the security forces.
The martyred soldiers were identified as Lance Naik Tariq Ali, and sepoys Tipu Razzaq, Shafiullah, Tariq Khan, and Sani Shaukat. The injured were Major Abbas and Lance Naik Mumtaz. They were shifted to the Turbat district hospital for treatment.
In a separate development, the military said it had killed four militants in two intelligence-based operations in the neighboring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday.
Two of the slain militants were identified as Commander Tabbasum alias Qadarman and Sajid alias Sarkandi, who were involved in several attacks on security forces in the North Waziristan district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
The other two militants were killed in a joint operation by the police and the security forces in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district, the ISPR said.
It added that the militants were involved in terrorist activities, extortion, and target killings of civilians.
The security forces also recovered weapons, ammunition, and explosives from the hideouts of the militants, the ISPR said.
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