PESHAWAR: One suspected militant was killed and two others were arrested on Wednesday after a gun battle took place between police and militants in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district.

Police sources said the casualties took place during a search operation in the Malakabad area of the district when the forces and militants exchanged fire.

Swabi’s district police office told Dawn that reinforcement had been sent to the area.

Considered to be a gateway between KP and Punjab, Swabi is one of the better developed regions in the province.

The clash comes as security forces are engaged in an all-out and intelligence-driven offensive against local and foreign militants in the country's northwestern tribal regions that lie adjacent to the province.

Moreover, since the Dec 16 attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, security forces have increased targeted-operations and snap checking in different parts of the province to counter the scourge of terrorism.