Six terrorists, including a “high-value target”, were killed by security forces during an operation in Gharyoum in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday.

In a statement, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that two “fierce encounters” took place between troops and militants in North and South Waziristan last night.

In the first, which took place in Gharyoum, troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location as a result of which six militants were killed, including “high value target, terrorist ringleader Hazrat Zaman alias Khawarey Mullah”.

The ISPR said that Zaman was “actively involved in multiple terrorist activities in the area and was highly wanted by law enforcement agencies”.

It further said that three soldiers embraced martyrdom during the operation. The ISPR identified the martyred soldiers as 36-year-old Lance Naik TabbasumuI Haq, 30-year-old Sepoy Naeem Akhtar and 23-year-old Sepoy Abdul Hameed.

In another exchange of fire with militants, this time in South Waziristan’s Asman Manza area, 25-year-old Sepoy Farman Ali embraced martyrdom, the ISPR said.

“Sanitisation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area. Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR said.

Last week, six terrorists were killed while eight were injured in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in North Waziristan.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.

That was the military’s highest single-day death toll from terrorist attacks reported this year. Before this, 10 personnel were martyred in a ‘fire raid’ in Balochistan’s Kech district in February 2022.

Last month, data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) said the number of militant attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years.

There were 99 attacks across the country, the highest number in a single month since November 2014, the report had said.