Haroon Islam

Last updated
Lieutenant Colonel
Haroon Islam
Born
Died8 July 2007
Alma mater Pakistan Military Academy
Military career
Birth nameHaroon-ul-Islam
Nickname(s)Son of Lahore
AllegianceFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Service/branchFlag of the Pakistani Army.svg  Pakistan Army
Years of service1988–2007
Rank OF-8 PakistanArmy.svg Lieutenant Colonel
Service number PA-27053
Commands held Zarrar Anti Terrorist Battalion
Awards

Lieutenant Colonel Haroon Islam was an officer in the Pakistan Army's Special Service Group (also known as Black Storks) who died during Operation Silence. He was a commanding officer of Operation Silence while commanding the Zarrar Anti Terrorist Unit. He was killed in fierce fighting which took place inside the Red Mosque Complex while leading a small force of 150 SSG members. The Special Service Group successfully took over the complex. On March 23, 2008, he was posthumously awarded the second highest civilian award, Hilal-e-Shujaat (Crescent of Bravery) by the President of Pakistan. [1]

Contents

Biography

Haroon was born in a family of military background.[ citation needed ] His father himself was a deputy commissioner who had also participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[ citation needed ] His elder brother is an Assistant Director in the FIA while another brother, Major Ehtisham-ul-Islam, is a retired Army Officer. [2] He joined and gained commission in the 3rd Battalion of the Sindh Regiment of Pakistan Army in 1988. He was a graduate of Command and Staff College, Quetta in 1993 and joined Pakistan Army's elite special forces branch SSG (Special Service Group) in 1993. He had a successful military career. In 1998, his unit was deployed in Kargil, and had participated in Kargil War.

In recognition of his services, he was awarded Chief of Army Staff Commendation Medal. During his career with the SSG, he commanded the elite Zarrar Company (The anti-terrorist unit of the SSG). [3]

Operation Sunrise

In 2007, the conflict between Lal Masjid and the Government of Pakistan deepened, and the Government of Pakistan decided to launch a military operation against the Islamic extremists and Taliban terrorists. In July 2007, one of SSG battalion was assigned to a mission to capture and take absolute control of Red Mosque from Taliban militants. To achieve this task, the Pakistan Army assigned this task to 7th Commando Zarrar Battalion of SSG led by Lt. Col. Haroon Islam and the Army Rangers Anti-Terrorist Company (ATC) led by Major Tariq Anees. The operation, codenamed Operation Silence, was launched on July 3, 2007 and Islam was killed on the midnight of 8 July 2007, two days after having been hit by small arms fire while commanding the raid on Lal Masjid in Islamabad. The Second-in-Command Army Ranger's Major Tariq Anees was also seriously wounded. [4] Reports indicate that he was hit while planting explosives on the outer perimeter wall of the complex. The shooter was Muhammad Maqsood, guard of Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi. He was killed in the retaliatory fire by the security forces. [5]

Free fall accident

Previously in his life, he survived a potentially fatal free fall accident when his parachute entangled with another. He not only survived the accident but became fit enough to rejoin the SSG. He was also a graduate of the prestigious Command and Staff College, Quetta. Because of his meritorious services, he had been awarded Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card. [6]

In mourning

His death has left a deep legacy in Special Services Group. While he gained a respected place in SSG Division, on behalf of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the federal cabinet, a two-member delegation consisting of Additional Secretary (Cabinet Division) Saeed Ahmad Khan and Joint Secretary (Cabinet Committee) Muhammad Zahid Khan visited the widow of Colonel Haroon Islam. [7] On July 08, 2007, President and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf, Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hyat and a large number of other senior civil and military officers and relatives of the martyred officer had attended the Namaz-e-Janaza held at Chaklala, Pakistan. [8] The Pakistan Army presented Guard of honour to Shaheed Lieutenant Colonel Haroon-ul-Islam. Later, his body was sent to Lahore for burial. [9] He is buried in Military cemetery graveyard, Lahore.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pervez Musharraf</span> President of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008

Pervez Musharraf was a Pakistani military officer and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. He also served as the 10th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th Chief of Army Staff from 1998 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamid Gul</span> Pakistani general (1936–2015)

Lieutenant General Hamid GulHI(M) SI(M) SBt was a Pakistani three-star general and defence analyst. Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, between 1987 and 1989. During his tenure, Gul played an instrumental role in directing ISI support to Afghan resistance groups against Soviet forces in return for funds and weapons from the US, during the Soviet–Afghan War, in co-operation with the CIA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military history of Pakistan</span> Aspect of Pakistans history

The military history of Pakistan encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas constituting modern Pakistan and greater South Asia. The history of the modern-day military of Pakistan began in 1947, when Pakistan achieved its independence as a modern nation.

The Pakistan Rangers are a pair of paramilitary federal law enforcement corps' in Pakistan. The two corps are the Punjab Rangers and the Sindh Rangers. There is also a third corps headquarters in Islamabad but is only for units transferred from the other corps for duties in the federal capital. They are both part of the Civil Armed Forces. The corps' operate administratively under the Pakistan Army but under separate command structures and wear distinctly different uniforms. However, they are usually commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan Army. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend the approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long border with neighbouring India. They are also often involved in major internal and external security operations with the regular Pakistani military and provide assistance to provincial police forces to maintain law and order against crime, terrorism and unrest. In addition, the Punjab Rangers, together with the Indian Border Security Force, participate in an elaborate flag lowering ceremony at the Wagah−Attari border crossing east of Lahore. The mutually-recognized India–Pakistan international border is different from the disputed and heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC), where the Pakistani province of Punjab adjoins Jammu and Kashmir and the undisputed international border effectively ends. Consequently, the LoC is not managed by the paramilitary Punjab Rangers, but by the regular Pakistan Army.

General Ahsan Saleem HayatNI(M) HI(M) LoM LoH, is a retired senior officer of the Pakistan Army who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from 2004 until his retirement in 2007. Prior to that, he served as the operational field commander of the V Corps in Sindh Province and was a full-tenured professor of war studies at the National Defence University. He was succeeded by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on 8 October 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ehsan ul Haq</span> Pakistani general (born 1949)

General Ehsan ul Haq NI(M), HI(M), is a retired four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and a public official, served as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, appointed in October 2005 until his retirement in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Rashid Ghazi</span> Pakistani religious cleric

Abdul Rashid Ghazi was a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist who served as the vice-chancellor of Faridia University. Prior to his death, he served as a diplomat for UNESCO. He was the son of Muhammad Abdullah Ghazi, and younger brother of Abdul Aziz Ghazi.

General Muhammad Yusaf KhanNI(M) HI(M) LoM was a senior general of the Pakistan Army who served as the Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) from October 8, 2001 until October 7, 2004. Following the end of his 3-year term in October 2004, he was succeeded by General Ahsan Saleem Hyat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Lal Masjid</span> 2007 armed confrontation in Pakistan

The siege of Lal Masjid was an armed confrontation in July 2007 between Islamic fundamentalist militants and the government of Pakistan, led by president Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz. The focal points of the operation were the Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa madrasah complex in Islamabad, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lal Masjid, Islamabad</span> Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan

The Lal Masjid is a mosque located in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is located near Abpara Market. It was constructed in 1966 and is one of the oldest mosques in the city. It was also the largest mosque in the city for twenty years, until the Faisal Mosque was built in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa</span> Armed conflict involving Pakistan and armed militant groups

The insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as the War in North-West Pakistan or Pakistan's war on terror, is an ongoing armed conflict involving Pakistan and Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundallah, Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), TNSM, al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the ISIL–Khorasan (ISIL), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Movement, Emirate of Caucasus, and elements of organized crime. Formerly a war, it is now a low-level insurgency as of 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashfaq Parvez Kayani</span> Pakistani general

General Ashfaq Parvez KayaniNI(M) HI(C) HI(M) LoM LoH OMM, is a retired four-star general of the Pakistan Army who served as the eighth chief of army staff, being appointed on 29 November 2007 after his predecessor Pervez Musharraf retired from his military service and remained in the office until 29 November 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tariq Majid</span> Pakistani general

General Tariq MajidNI(M) HI(M) LoH is a retired four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the 13th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 2007 to 2010, the principal and highest-ranking military adviser in the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Major General Ashraf Rashid was a two-star general in the Pakistan Army and the colonel commandant of the Special Service Group division within the Pakistan Army from October 1995 to September 1999. A career army special forces officer, he was responsible for conducting paramilitary operations and infiltrating Kashmiri militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control, which subsequently led to the Kargil War. He resigned from his post in September 1999 following the intense pressure on Pakistan from international community to withdraw its military forces from Kargil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in North-West Pakistan order of battle</span> Conflict involving Pakistani forces and militant groups

The North-Western Contingent order of battle is the comprehensive deposition and systematic structure of the unified Pakistan military forces in tackling down and controlling the insurgency in Western Pakistan. The deployments began in 2002 after the International Security Assistance Force invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 in a response to the deadly terrorist attacks in New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ameer Faisal Alavi</span> Pakistan army officer (1954–2008)

Major General Ameer Faisal Alavi was a Pakistan Army two-star general and special operations expert who was the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the elite Special Service Group of Pakistan Army. A former member of Special Service Group, he was credited with masterminding the Angoor Ada operation in 2004, where many Arabs and Chechens based in the tribal areas were killed or arrested and turned over to the Americans.

The Pakistan Army General Headquarters attack, was a hostage-rescue mission carried by SSG Division on 10 October 2009, when 10 gunmen in military uniform opened fire on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The attack killed nine soldiers, nine militants and two civilians and was a major escalation in Pakistan's domestic insurgency. One militant was wounded and captured by security forces. Soon after the attack, the militants infiltrated the security buildings where 22 civilian and military officials were held hostage by the militants. The Pakistan Army immediately launched a hostage rescue operation led by the SSG Division, Army Special Forces and the 13th Regular Regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamshed Gulzar Kiani</span> Pakistani general (1944–2008)

Lieutenant-General Jamshed Gulzar Kiani, HI(M), SJ, SBt, TJ, was a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army, intelligence officer and the former Colonel Commandant of the Baloch Regiment and commander of X Corps.

Captain Bilal Zafar Abbasi (1982–2009) was a Pakistan Army officer who received Sitara-e-Basalat on the 62nd Independence Day of Pakistan. He was a captain in the 42 Baloch Regiment (MIB).

On 13 February 2017, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar released a video announcing the launch of "Operation Ghazi", named after Abdul Rashid Ghazi who was killed in July 2007 inside the Lal Masjid. The operation started with the suicide bombing at the Mall, in which 12 civilians and six police officers were killed.

References

  1. "President confers civil, military awards: See HILAL-I-SHUJA'AT". The News International. March 24, 2008. Archived from the original (Webcache) on March 27, 2008.
  2. "Funeral of Army officer died in Lal Masjid Operation offered, Musharraf attended". Pakistan Tribute. July 9, 2007.
  3. "Musharraf, VCOAS attend funeral of Colonel Haroon-ul-Islam". The News.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. Subramanian, Nirupama (July 9, 2007). "Lal Masjid siege continues:Army officer killed, commando injured while blasting a hole in the mosque wall". The Hindu . Archived from the original on July 12, 2007.
  5. "Army commander killed in line of duty at Lal Masjid". The News.
  6. Funeral of Army officer died in Lal Masjid Operation offered, Musharraf attended
  7. "Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  8. "General Musharraf, VCOAS attend funeral of Colonel Haroon-ul-Islam". July 8, 2007. Archived from the original (Webcache) on August 6, 2007.
  9. "Body of Lt-Col Haroon arrives in Lahore". The News International. July 9, 2007. Archived from the original (Webcache) on July 9, 2007.