On 14 October 2020, a routine patrol near Razmak turned into a day of mourning for the Pakistan Army. An improvised explosive device — the coward’s weapon, planted in darkness and detonated from afar — claimed the lives of six soldiers: Captain Omer Farooq Cheema (134 Long Course, formerly of 41 Medium Artillery/Army Air Defence), Naib Subedar Riaz Ahmed, Naib Subedar Shakeel Azad, Havildar Younas Khan, Naik Muhammad Nadeem and Lance Naik Asmat Ullah.
Captain Omer Farooq Cheema was a young officer of exceptional promise. Commissioned through the 134th Long Course, he had chosen the path of service at an age when most young men think only of themselves. His memorial, visited by loved ones, stands as a testament to a life of purpose cut short. Behind his smile in the photographs was a soldier who understood the weight of the uniform he wore.
Beside him fell five men whose names deserve equal honour. Naib Subedars Riaz Ahmed and Shakeel Azad were the backbone of their unit — senior non-commissioned officers whose experience guided younger soldiers. Havildar Younas Khan, Naik Muhammad Nadeem and Lance Naik Asmat Ullah were the fighting heart of the Pakistan Army, the jawans whose courage has never wavered in the long campaign against terrorism.
Razmak, in North Waziristan, has seen more than its share of sacrifice. The region’s rugged terrain has been the stage for the Army’s relentless operations against militancy, and every patrol carries the knowledge that IEDs may lie hidden along the route. These six men walked that route willingly, because their duty demanded it and their comrades depended on them.
Six years on, we remember them together — an officer and his men, united in life by service and in death by sacrifice. Their shahadat is a reminder that the war against terrorism is fought not by weapons alone but by the spirit of soldiers who refuse to yield. Pakistan honours Captain Omer Farooq Cheema, Naib Subedar Riaz Ahmed, Naib Subedar Shakeel Azad, Havildar Younas Khan, Naik Muhammad Nadeem and Lance Naik Asmat Ullah — the Razmak martyrs, forever brave, forever remembered.
To the families of these six soldiers, the sixth anniversary reopens wounds that never fully heal. But it also brings the comfort of knowing that the nation remembers — that their sons’ names are spoken with honour, their photographs garlanded, their stories told to new generations of soldiers who will walk the same paths.
