Background
Muhammad Mahfuz was born in Pind Malikan (now renamed Mahfuzabad in his honour) in Rawalpindi district Punjab.
Muhammad Mahfuz was born in Pind Malikan (now renamed Mahfuzabad in his honour) in Rawalpindi district Punjab.
He joined the Pakistan Army on 25 October 1962 as an infantry soldier. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, 15th Punjab Regiment was deployed in the Wagah-Attari sector along the Indian border. Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz was the operator of a light machine-gun in "A" Company of the regiment.
Mahfuz"s machine-gun was destroyed by an Indian shell as "A" Company came under heavy fire from automatic weapons on the night of 17 December 1971.
Wounded in his legs by shrapnel and unarmed, he single-handedly attacked an enemy bunker from which fire had caused many Pakistani deaths. There he strangled one of the enemy soldiers and was killed by another with a bayonet.