1842 hours. His family remembers the exact minute — because that is when time stopped for them.
At 1842 hours on 5 August 2019, Major Saqib Ali of the Pakistan Army embraced shahadat in an IED blast in Bajaur Agency — a young officer, newly married, and the only brother of his sisters, gone in a single devastating moment.
Seven years later, in 2026, the nation marked his 7th shahadat anniversary. The tributes remember him as the pride of the nation and the pride of the 123rd Long Course — and they remember, too, the young husband and the beloved only brother behind the uniform, taken far too soon.
An Officer of 20 Azad Kashmir Regiment
Major Saqib Ali was commissioned through the 123 Long Course and served with the 20 Azad Kashmir Regiment (20 AK). He was the kind of officer soldiers look up to and families are proud of — and for his sisters, he was something more: their only brother, the centre of their world.
Just months before his shahadat, he had married. A new household, a new life, a future full of plans — all of it entrusted to a young man in uniform who knew the risks of his profession and accepted them without flinching. To marry and to serve, at the same time, in one of the country’s most dangerous operational areas, is the quiet heroism of thousands of Pakistan’s officers.
The Day of Shahadat
On 5 August 2019, at 1842 hours, Major Saqib Ali was in Bajaur Agency when an improvised explosive device detonated, and he embraced shahadat. The tribal belt has taken many of Pakistan’s sons through such blasts — hidden, indiscriminate, and merciless.
He fell in the line of duty, serving in one of the most challenging operational areas in the country. For his young wife, his sisters, and his parents, the news arrived like a thunderbolt: the brightest light of their family, extinguished in an instant. The precise hour is remembered — 1842 — because for those who loved him, time stopped at that moment and has never fully restarted.
The Original Tribute
The anniversary tribute posted in his honour reads as follows:
Today is 7th shahadat anniversary of Major Saqib Ali Shaheed
On 5Aug2019, at 1842hrs, he embraced shahadat in an IED blast at Bajour agency.
Only brother of his sisters, Got married just few months before his shahadat
Pride of Nation
Pride of 123L/C ex 20AK
What the Living Owe
Major Saqib Ali Shaheed had everything to live for, and he gave it all for his country. His sacrifice is a reminder that behind every shaheed stands a family that gave its most precious gift to the nation — a wife widowed within months of her wedding, sisters who lost their only brother, parents who buried their son.
There is a question every such anniversary poses to the living: what will we do with the peace that was purchased at this price?
The soldiers who fall in Bajaur and the other troubled districts do not die for abstractions. They die so that children can go to school, so that markets can open, so that the ordinary business of life can go on. To honour them is not only to remember their names, but to build the Pakistan they believed was worth dying for.
Every year on 5 August, his shahadat anniversary is observed with deep emotion. May Allah grant Major Saqib Ali the highest ranks in Jannah and give his loved ones patience and strength. Pakistan will not forget its young major of the 20 AK — nor any of its martyrs.
