The Pakistan Army killed seven terrorists in two different operations in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, according to the military’s media wing.

A press release from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that in the first incident, terrorists fired on a military convoy in the general area of Hassan Khel.

“Troops initiated a prompt response, effectively engaged and killed three terrorists,” the ISPR said, adding that the men had “remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces” and weapons and ammunitions were also recovered from them.

The ISPR said that during the intense exchange of fire, Lance Naik Muhammad Pannah, 30, resident of Jaffarabad District, and the Frontier Constabulary’s Sepoy Shamas Ullah, 36, resident of South Waziristan District, “fought gallantly and embraced martyrdom”.

It added that the area was being sanitised to eliminate any other terrorists found nearby.

In the second incident, the ISPR said soldiers killed four terrorists in an exchange of fire in Tank’s general area.

The ISPR said security troops had observed the terrorists’ movement and subsequently engaged them in combat.

It added that the militants were involved in target killing, kidnapping, and extortion in the area, and weapons and ammunition were recovered from them.

The security situation has further aggravated as the highest number of terror incidents in a single month this year was recorded in September, according to an Islamabad-based independent think-tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.

The number of terror attacks increased in September compared to August 2022. The month witnessed 42 militant attacks (the highest in a month in 2022) with an increase of 35 per cent compared to August. A visible increase of 106pc in violence in erstwhile Fata and KP was also observed.

In the wake of cleanup operations by security forces, 17 alleged militants were killed and 18 others apprehended across the country.