Lt Col Faisal among two soldiers killed in Shawal clash

MIRANSHAH: Two security personnel, one of them an officer, were killed during a clash with the militants in the remote Shawal Valley in North Waziristan on Monday, military officials said.
Also, military officials told The News that six militants were killed in the ensuing clash with security forces.
According to security officials, the clash took place in Shawal, the mountainous and forested valley that is considered the last redoubt of the militants.
Two soldiers, including an officer, were killed in the clash. The officer was identified as Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Malik.
After weeks of air strikes, security forces last week launched the first ground offensive against local and foreign militants in Shawal Valley, where they had been facing resistance from the militants.
Shawal is the stronghold of different militant groups and is used to stage attacks on security forces and government installations all over the country. After eviction from two major residential areas of Mir Ali and Miranshah subdivisions in North Waziristan during the military operation Zarb-e-Azb that began on June 15, 2014, majority of the local and foreign militants moved to Shawal. No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on security forces on Monday.