2 soldiers martyred, 3 injured in NWA ambush

MIRANSHAH: Two soldiers were martyred and three others sustained bullet injuries as suspected militants ambushed a patrolling party of the security forces in the Mir Ali tehsil of North Waziristan Agency, official sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said that the security forces' personnel were on a routine patrol when miscreants fired at them in Eidak area in Mir Ali.

The sources said that two soldiers were martyred in the attack while three others were wounded. The bodies and injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Bannu. The martyred soldiers were identified as Subedar Faisal and Naik Naeem while the injured included Naik Muhammad Idrees, Sepoy Muhammad Iqbal and Sepoy Azhar Ali.

Meanwhile, a heavy contingent of the security forces reached the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area, the sources said. They added that the security forces launched a search operation in the area, but it is unclear if any arrests were made.

Eidak, the place where the ambush took place, is located on the main Mir Ali-Miranshah road. For a long time the military authorities didn’t ask the Eidak tribespeople to shift out of North Waziristan and migrate to Bannu as the village elders had given guarantee that no militants would be allowed in their area.