Pak Army Officer Who Claimed Capture of Abhinandan Killed in Clash With TTP in South Waziristan

Islamabad: Major Moiz Abbas Shah, a 37-year-old officer of the Pakistan Army who had previously claimed credit for the capture of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman during the 2019 post-Balakot conflict, was killed in a deadly encounter with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in South Waziristan.

According to official confirmation from the Pakistan Army, Major Shah, a native of Chakwal and a member of the elite Special Service Group (SSG), lost his life while leading a high-risk anti-terror operation against TTP militants in the restive tribal region near the Afghan border. Lance Naik Jibranullah, another soldier involved in the operation, was also killed in the same gunfight.

Major Shah rose to prominence in Pakistan’s domestic narrative after the February 2019 aerial confrontation between India and Pakistan, following the Balakot airstrikes. He had publicly claimed involvement in the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later returned to India as part of a diplomatic de-escalation. The incident had drawn global attention at the time and became a symbol of military confrontation and back-channel diplomacy between the two nuclear-armed nations.