A Pakistani Army Major known for his involvement in the 2019 capture of an Indian Air Force pilot was killed on Tuesday during an anti-terror operation, according to reports from Pakistani media.
Major Syed Moiz Abbas Shah was taking part in a military operation in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when he was killed in combat against militants belonging to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban.
Another Pakistani Army officer was also killed in the battle, while the military claims that 11 TTP militants were eliminated during the engagement.
The TTP, formed in 2007 as an umbrella organization for militant groups operating in Pakistan’s tribal regions near the Afghan border, has waged an insurgency against the Pakistani state since 2004. The group seeks to overthrow the government and impose Islamic Sharia law. Its ties to the Afghan Taliban have been a point of ongoing tension between Islamabad and Kabul, particularly since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
Major Abbas Shah rose to prominence in February 2019 for his role in the capture of Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. During a spike in hostilities between India and Pakistan—following the February 14 Pulwama attack—Varthaman's MiG-21 Bison was shot down during an aerial dogfight. Abbas Shah was reportedly among the Pakistani soldiers who apprehended the pilot after he ejected into Pakistan-administered territory. Varthaman was later released and returned to India on March 1, 2019, in a move widely seen as a de-escalation gesture.
Following the 2019 incident, some Indian media outlets claimed that Abbas Shah had been killed in action along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir in August of that year—speculation likely fueled by his increased public profile following Varthaman’s capture and notoriety within Pakistani and Indian military circles.