Some soldiers die facing the enemy with a weapon in their hands. Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed died with his arms around a suicide bomber — because between the bomber and a room full of young police recruits, there was only him.
On the night of 24 October 2016, militants stormed the Police Training College in Quetta. Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed led the clearance operation into the building. In a dark room, he found a bomber hiding under a bed. He threw himself onto the man as the explosives detonated. The recruits in that room lived because he did not.
Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed: A Son of Peshawar
He came into the world on 5 May 1989 in Peshawar, the eldest of four children. His father, a doctor, hoped his son would follow him into medicine. Roohullah chose a different calling. He studied at Islamia Collegiate School and Government College Hayatabad. After that, he joined the Pakistan Army and earned his place in the Special Service Group’s Light Commando Battalion.
His younger brother Zahid called him “Lala G” — elder brother. On the night of 24 October 2016, the two spoke on the phone for seven minutes. Zahid teased him about saving his leave for his wedding. Roohullah laughed and promised he would come home. In the end, the family received a different call.
The Operations Before Quetta
Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed knew the country’s hardest fights well. For example, he took part in the operations at the Army Public School in Peshawar, at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, and at the Christian Colony in Warsak. In each place, Pakistan’s war on terror came down to streets and rooms. He fought it there first.
After that, the Army transferred him to Balochistan on 28 September 2016. Less than a month later, the call came from Quetta. Militants had attacked the Police Training College. He formed his assault team and went in.
The Day Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed Embraced Shahadat
First, the hostages in one dark room confirmed they were his own men. Then he spotted a figure hiding under a charpoy. He kicked the bed aside. In the split second he had, he made the choice that defines his name. He threw himself on the bomber. As a result, the blast killed him instantly. The recruits he shielded survived.
On 24 October 2016, Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed embraced shahadat at the age of 27. Pakistan posthumously awarded him the Tamgha-e-Jurat, one of the country’s highest military honours. He was going to marry within months. He had promised his brother he would come home on leave. Instead, he came home wrapped in the flag. The families of the recruits he saved will remember, for the rest of their lives, that a stranger in uniform chose their sons over himself.
The Original Tribute
The tribute posted in his honour reads as follows:
Remembering Capt Ruhullah Shaheed on his 10th shahadat anniversary
Sharing some memories of him with other martyrs, with his buddies, with his comrades — Capt Ruhullah Shaheed with Maj Babar Khan Niazi Shaheed, Capt Junaid Hafeez Shaheed, and Lt Fahad Raza Shaheed
Remembered With His Comrades
Finally, ten years on, Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed rests in the nation’s memory alongside his fallen comrades — the officers he served with, laughed with, and now stands with in honour. That is how soldiers live on: not alone, but in the company of those who shared their oath.
Every year on 24 October, his shahadat anniversary returns, and tributes honour a young commando who had everything to live for and gave it all in a single instant. Therefore, his story asks a question of every one of us who sleeps safely at night. What do we owe the men who stand between us and the blast?
Above all, remember this: Capt Roohullah Mohmand Shaheed stood in that doorway so that others could walk out of it. May Allah bless his soul and grant him the highest station in Jannah.
Read also: Capt M Tahir Shaheed: A Soldier Lost Far From Home and Sepoy Adnan Hussain Shaheed: One Final Stand.
