New Delhi: Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah, a Pakistani Army officer previously involved in the 2019 capture of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was killed in an intelligence-based operation targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in the South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to a statement released by Pakistan military, Major Moiz, aged 37 and a resident of Chakwal district, was leading his troops from the front when he and another soldier, Lance Naik Jibran Ullah, lost their lives in the operation that reportedly eliminated 11 militants and caused injuries to seven.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that the targeted militants were “India-sponsored Khawarij”, a term recently mandated by the Pakistani Government to describe members of the banned TTP, which it has designated “Fitna-al-Khawarij” (outcasts) in 2024.
“Major Moiz was known for his courage and daring actions in numerous counter-terrorism operations. His leadership and sacrifice are a testament to the army’s resolve to eliminate in from the country,” the ISPR statement said, adding that sanitisation operations are ongoing to clear any remaining threats in the area.
Major Moiz had previously gained prominence during the 2019 India-Pakistan military standoff that followed the Pulwama attack and India’s airstrikes on a suspected terrorist camp in Balakot.
During the escalation, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force was captured after an aerial dogfight. Major Moiz was reportedly among the officers involved in the operation leading to Abhinandan’s capture. In fact, Major Moiz saved Abhinandan from the local population which was beating him up and took him into custody.
Varthaman was released 58 hours later by the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Government through the Wagah-Attari border, an act described by Pakistan as a “gesture of peace”.
According to reports, Pakistan has experienced a surge in terrorist incidents, particularly in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, following the collapse of the ceasefire agreement with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in November 2022.
Negotiations between Pakistani authorities and the militant group initially began in October 2021 but ultimately fell through by December of that year.
The TTP, founded in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, seeks to establish an Islamist state in Pakistan similar to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and has executed numerous deadly attacks, including the 2014 Peshawar school massacre.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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