For hours, they pursued the enemy across some of the toughest ground in the country. Steep mountains. Narrow valleys. Long distances that exhaust even the fittest soldiers. And at the head of them all, refusing to break off the chase, refusing to yield, was their commander: Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Arif of the Pakistan Army. On 8 October 2025, in the unforgiving terrain of Kurram, he embraced shahadat at the head of his troops, fighting the way he had always led, from the front.
He did not fall alone. Beside him fell Major Tayyab Rahat, Naib Subedar Azam Gul, Naik Gul Amir, Havildar Adil, Lance Naiks Irshad, Talish Faraz and Sher Khan, and Sepoys Zahid, Tufail and Aqif. Eleven men. One commander and the soldiers who trusted him enough to follow him across that punishing ground. They fought with unwavering courage for hours, and they laid down their lives selflessly for the sake of their country.
The Pursuit in Kurram
Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Arif, an officer of the 115 Long Course who served with the 27 Baloch Regiment and 216 Wing, embodied the finest tradition of the Pakistani officer: he led from the front, and he never left his men. On that day, he and his men relentlessly pursued the enemy, determined to capture them, pressing the chase across the toughest terrain of Kurram.
To pursue an enemy across such ground for hours demands extraordinary endurance and resolve. Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Arif asked nothing of his men that he did not demand of himself, and they followed him into that pursuit without hesitation. A commander who fights shoulder to shoulder with his soldiers for hours, against an enemy in difficult terrain, earns a place in history that no rank can buy. Lt Col Junaid Arif earned it with his life.
A Commander’s Sacrifice
The scale of the loss tells the story of the battle’s intensity. A lieutenant colonel, a major, a naib subedar, and eight more soldiers fell together, which means the fighting was sustained and fierce. When a commander of his seniority falls at the head of his troops, it is proof that he was exactly where a commander should be: with his men, in the thick of it.
Each year on 8 October, his shahadat anniversary is observed with the honour it deserves. His name is spoken with reverence by his regiment, his course, and by Pakistanis who understand what it means for an officer to give his life at the head of his men.
The phrase “leading from the front” is easily spoken and enormously hard to live. It means the commander takes the same risks as the youngest sepoy, walks the same ground, and faces the same fire. Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Arif lived it in Kurram, and the men who fell with him are the witnesses to how completely he embodied it.
Leading From the Front
There is a bond between an officer and his men that is forged only in shared danger. The men led by Lt Col Junaid on 8 October 2025, from Major Tayyab Rahat down to Sepoy Aqif, followed him across that punishing terrain because they trusted him. That trust, given freely and honoured totally, is the foundation of every army worth the name.
When eleven men fall together, eleven families grieve, eleven courses mourn, and a regiment loses part of itself. Yet the manner of their falling, together, in pursuit, refusing to yield, becomes a standard for those who remain. The Pakistan Army remembers such days not only with sorrow but with resolve: to be worthy of the men who did not come back.
The Lion of Kurram
Lt Col Junaid Arif Shaheed chose the hardest path a commander can take, and he walked it to the end. May Allah grant him and all the men who fell beside him, Major Tayyab Rahat, Naib Subedar Azam Gul, Naik Gul Amir, Havildar Adil, Lance Naiks Irshad, Talish Faraz and Sher Khan, and Sepoys Zahid, Tufail and Aqif, the highest place among the shuhada, and may their families find comfort in the nation’s eternal gratitude.
Pakistan will never forget the lion of Kurram.
