Four | Pakistan

Four soldiers were martyred as security forces killed 12 terrorists linked to “Indian proxy groups” in operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the military’s media wing said. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday night, seven terrorists were killed in operations in the North Waziristan and Chitral districts. In North Waziristan, “Indian-sponsored khawarij attempted to attack a security forces’ check post in general area Shawal,” the ISPR said, using the state-designated term for terrorists. “The attempt was effectively thwarted by own troops and in [the] ensuing fire exchange, six Indian-sponsored khawarij were sent to hell. “However, during intense fire exchange, Lieutenant Daniyal Ismail (age: 24 years, resident of District Mardan), a brave young officer who was leading his troops from [the] front, fought gallantly and embraced shahadat (martyrdom) along with his three men,” the ISPR said. The three other soldiers martyred in the operation we...

Four tourists from Gujrat who went missing in Gilgit-Baltistan on May 16 were finally located on Saturday morning at the bank of Indus River near Istak village in Skardu’s Roundu valley. Family sources said Wasif Shahzad, 36, and Umar Ehsan, 20, both cousins from Kot Gakka near Mangowal; Salman Nasrullah Sandhu, 23, of Jassoki village; and Usman Dar, 23, of Saroki had arrived in Gilgit on May 13. Gilgit range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Raja Mirza Hassan said that according to police records, the four friends had started their travel from Hunza to Skardu on May 15. On the way they had stayed in a hotel near Karakoram at Danyor in Gilgit. The four friends had resumed their journey to Skardu on May 16 and since then their mobile phones could not be reached. Skardu Deputy Commissioner Arif Ahmad today confirmed that the location of the missing tourists’ vehicle has been traced near Satak Nala. The vehicle had fallen into a deep gorge on the bank of the river below the Baltistan Highway after an accident. Resc...

NORTH WAZI­RIS­TAN: Four children were killed and five others, including a woman, injured in a suspected quadcopter munitions drop in Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan district on Monday. Sources told Dawn that the drone strike took place in Hurmuz village during day time, leaving four children of the same family dead and five others, including a woman, injured. The incident caused panic in the area. Locals shifted the injured to the Mir Ali hospital. Sources said some of the injured were in critical condition. Both security forces and outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan are known to have been using quadcopters. Area people, including tribal elders, youth and children later took to the streets after the incident and staged a sit-in at Mir Ali Chowk against the suspected quadcopter strikes. Some of them also carried placards inscribed with slogans against drone strikes. In a statement posted on social media, KP Minister for Relief Naik Muhammad Dawar condemned the attack and said the blood of innocent childre...