Pak army officer who captured IAF Pilot Abhinandan killed in clash with Taliban

Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah, the Pakistan Army officer who came into the spotlight in 2019 for capturing Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman after his MiG-21 was shot down during a tense aerial skirmish, was killed in a gunbattle with Taliban militants recently near the Afghan border.

The 37-year-old officer from the Pakistan Army’s elite Special Services Group (SSG) was martyred during an operation in the Sararogha region of South Waziristan, according to a statement issued by the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Lance Naik Jibran Ullah, 27, also lost his life in the same operation.

The fierce encounter left 11 militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) dead and seven others injured. The Pakistani Army described the operation as part of a larger counter-terrorism push in the volatile tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Major Moiz was laid to rest in his hometown of Chakwal in Punjab with full military honours. His funeral, held at the Chaklala Garrison in Rawalpindi, was attended by Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir.

“Major Moiz embodied courage and sacrifice. He faced resistance head-on and embraced martyrdom while upholding the highest military traditions,” General Munir was quoted as saying in the ISPR statement.

After his death, Pakistani media outlets revealed that Moiz was the same officer who, as a young captain, had captured IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman in February 2019 after his aircraft was shot down during a dogfight over the Line of Control. An old video from a Geo TV interview that has resurfaced online shows Moiz describing how he detained Abhinandan and reportedly shielded him from a violent mob before handing him over to the authorities.

Moiz was commissioned into the Pakistan Army in 2011 before joining the SSG. He had been operating in conflict-prone zones such as Waziristan, which has long been a hotbed of militant activity.

The TTP, which claimed allegiance to al-Qaeda, has been behind numerous deadly attacks across Pakistan, including the 2009 assault on the Army’s GHQ and the 2008 Islamabad Marriott bombing. The group aims to impose a strict form of Sharia across the country and remains one of Pakistan’s most persistent security threats.

Pakistan's military has labeled the TTP as "Fitna al-Khawarij," invoking a historical term to brand the group as heretical and dangerous. The killing of Major Moiz, seen as both a national hero and a frontline warrior, underscores the ongoing and bloody battle Pakistan faces in its internal war against militancy.