Security forces killed two terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district on Friday, according to the military’s media wing.

A press release from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the IBO was conducted based on the reported presence of terrorists in the area.

“During the conduct of operation, after an intense fire exchange, two terrorists; Abdullah Khadri and Khalid Janan, were sent to hell. The killed terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area, including target killing of innocent civilians,” the ISPR said.

It added that a sanitisation operation was under way to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area as “the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.”

Two soldiers were martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in KP’s Lakki Marwat district on Wednesday. Two militants were also killed in the engagement.

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 ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, 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 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.