Two terrorists, including a “high-value target”, were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces conducted an operation late last night on the “reported presence of terrorists”.

“After an intense fire exchange, two terrorists, including HVT Gul Yousaf Toor, were sent to hell,” it said.

The ISPR stated that Toor had “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces, including high-profile terrorist attacks in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts as well as extortion and target killing of innocent civilians”.

“He was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies and [the] government had fixed head money of Rs2.5 million on him,” the ISPR added.

The military said residents of the area appreciated the security forces’ efforts in “maintaining peace and stability in the area”.

“Security forces of Pakistan, in step with the nation, remain determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

In the deadliest attack on security forces in the outgoing year, at least 23 Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred and more than 30 troops wounded on Dec 12 after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan stormed a compound used by the military in Dera Ismail Khan’s Daraban area.

According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 — marking a record six-year high.

KP and Balochistan provinces were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.