Two terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Tuesday.

According to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted an IBO last night on the reported presence of terrorists.

“During the conduct of operation, intense fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists, as a result of which two terrorists were sent to hell, including terrorist ring leader Ayubullah Mansoor,” the ISPR said.

It added that weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the militants who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities, including targeted killing as well as extortion and abduction of innocent civilians”.

“Sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area. Locals of the area appreciated the operation and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism,” the ISPR said.

The development comes a day after 10 police officials were martyred and six others injured in a pre-dawn attack by dozens of militants on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan, as violence escalated ahead of general elections this week.

A spokesperson for Dera police said that militants, equipped with sophisticated weapons, attacked the Chaudhwan Police Station in Daraban tehsil at around 3am, adding that cops inside the building retaliated and a gun battle continued for around two and a half hours. The militants escaped after the attack under the cover of darkness.

Last week, the ISPR said that 24 terrorists were killed during firefights and clearance operations in the Mach and Kolpur towns of Balochistan over three days.

The statement had come after security for­ces had thwarted three “coordinated attacks” launched by terrorists using rockets and sophisticated weapons in Mach. The terrorists also targeted a hotel and six shops in the Kolpur area and set them on fire.

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.