There are details of a soldier’s death that stay with those who witness them forever. During Operation Sherdil in Bajaur Agency, Lieutenant Sohail Ahmed of the Pakistan Army was struck in the chest by a rocket launcher. Dying on the battlefield, with his life ebbing away, he recited the Kalma-e-Shahadat. It was the declaration of faith with which he had lived, spoken as he died, and those who witnessed it have never forgotten.
On 26 September 2008, the same operation claimed his fellow officer of the same regiment: Major Tayyab Aziz Shaheed, of the 98 Long Course, ex 10 Azad Kashmir Regiment. Two officers of the same regiment, bound by the same brotherhood of arms, gave their lives in the same operation. Eighteen years on, Bajaur is free, and their names are still spoken with honour.
Operation Sherdil, Bajaur
Operation Sherdil was one of the decisive campaigns against militants who had turned parts of Bajaur into their sanctuary. It was launched to clear Bajaur Agency of militants who had made it a base for attacks across the region, and the fighting was close and costly, fought in valleys and villages where the enemy had dug in deep.
Major Tayyab Aziz, an officer of the 98 Long Course serving with 10 Azad Kashmir Regiment, fought in that operation alongside his men, far from home in one of the most demanding campaigns of the war against terrorism. On 26 September 2008, he laid down his life there.
These were campaigns where the doctrine was still being written, and only the most reliable officers were entrusted with them. Major Tayyab Aziz was part of that effort, an officer leading his men against a determined and entrenched enemy, and he gave everything he had.
Two Officers of the Same Regiment
The loss was doubled for the regiment. Lieutenant Sohail Ahmed, of the 115 Long Course and also of 10 AK, was struck in the chest by a rocket launcher during the same operation. Even as he fell, he recited the Kalma Shahadat.
For the soldiers who fight alongside such men, these moments become part of the regiment’s living tradition. They are retold in mess halls and at anniversaries, not as stories of defeat but as testimonies of faith and composure. Eighteen years on, the Kalma on Lieutenant Sohail’s lips is still remembered, because it said everything about the man: that his faith held him to the very end, and that he met death the way he had lived, as a believer and a soldier.
Regiments are families, and the loss of two officers in a single campaign wounds the whole family. But it also binds the survivors closer, in shared grief and shared pride, and in the determination that the sacrifice will mean something.
Faith at the Final Moment
Their shared sacrifice speaks to the price the Pakistan Army paid to reclaim the country’s territory from those who spread terror. Eighteen years have passed since Operation Sherdil, and the Bajaur that Major Tayyab Aziz fought for is a different place today. The peace that the people of the tribal districts now enjoy was purchased by officers and soldiers who never lived to see it.
That is the hardest truth of such sacrifices: the men who pay for the peace do not get to live in it. They give their today so that strangers can have a tomorrow. Major Tayyab Aziz and Lieutenant Sohail Ahmed gave theirs in the valleys of Bajaur, and the freedom of those valleys is their monument.
Every year on 26 September, the shahadat anniversary of Major Tayyab Aziz is observed with honour. His name is remembered not only by his family and course mates but by a nation that owes its peace to the officers and soldiers who fought in operations like Sherdil.
Their Sacrifice Lives On
Major Tayyab Aziz Shaheed stood his ground against those who threatened Pakistan, and he did not return. Lieutenant Sohail Ahmed Shaheed met his end with the Kalma on his lips, and he did not return. May Allah grant them both the highest ranks among the shuhada.
Their sacrifice will live on in the free soil of Bajaur, and in the memory of a nation that will never forget them.
