Maj Gen Sanaullah, Lt Col Tauseef among 3 killed in Upper Dir blast

By Zaheerul Hassan

Rawalpindi: Interior Minister Nisar, Gen. Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, COAS, Gen Khalid Shamim Wayne CJCS along with other military and civil officials attended the funeral of three senior military officials who were martyred in a blast near Pak-Afghan border on 15 September 2013. Major General Sanaullah  Lt Colonel Tauseef and Lance Nayak Irfan Sattar were martyred in Upper Dir area when a roadside bomb went off in Bin Shahi area. Major Genral Asim Bajwa, a spokesman for the ISPR, said that two soldiers were also injured.

The ISPR said that Major General Sanaullah was General Commanding Officer (GCO) Swat Division while Lt Colonel Tauseef was Commanding Officer 33 Baloch Regiment.

The officers were on a visit to the front positions of the army along the Pak-Afghan border and were returning from the area when the incident took place.

The proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the killing of the army officials.

The killings of the Pakistan Army’s senior officers come when the country is mulling over offering peace deal to the militants to put an end to the surging violence, which has so far killed over 40,000 people including 5,000 security officials.

Commenting on the tragic incident Rahimullah Yousafzai, the doyen of journalists in Pakistan’s North Western Province, said that Mullah Fazlullah, a fugitive leader of the Swati Taliban might be behind the IED attack.

He said that Fazlullah and his militants have sanctuaries in Afghanistan’s Noristan and Kunar provinces. Yousafzai added that the area was relatively calm as the martyred Major General often visited the region.

In fact, TTP is being backed by RAW and CIA and is carrying out militant activities in Pakistan. The public is in the opinion of dealing Taliban militancy with iron hands instead going for negotiations. PTI Chairman Imran Khan should stop advocating negotiations phenomena with such like militants.