Four militants, including a “high value terrorist”, were killed by security forces during an operation in the general area of Badaber in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Peshawar district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday.

In a statement, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said an intelligence-based operation was conducted in the area on the reported presence of terrorists.

It said the troops effectively engaged the militants’ location and four terrorists were “sent to hell” including a “high-value terrorist, terrorist commander Samiullah alias Shenay, terrorist commander Salman alias Ahmed, terrorist Imran alias Muhammad and terrorist Hazrat Umar alias Khalid”.

The militants were “highly wanted by law enforcement agencies”, the ISPR said.

“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the slain men, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities, including extortion and targeted killings in the area,” it added.

In another operation today, an “intense exchange of fire” took place between terrorists and army troops in the Kulachi area of the Dera Ismail Khan district.

According to the ISPR, Lance Naik Muhammad Ejaz Khan, a 34-year-old resident of Kashmir, embraced martyrdom during the operation.

It said that sanitisation of the surrounding areas was being carried out to neutralise any other terrorists found in the area. “The security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement added.

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

On Wednesday, seven terrorists were killed by security forces in an operation in the Tank district.

Last week, a Pakistan Army officer and three soldiers were martyred in an IBO in the Tirah area of KP’s Khyber district while terrorists attac­ked the Pakistan Air Force’s heavily guarded M.M. Alam Base on November 4.

On Nov 3, 17 security personnel were martyred in an ambush, bomb blasts and security operation in Gwadar, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat.

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