Two terrorists were killed in separate operations last night in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday.

A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that an IBO (intelligence-based operation) was conducted in Khyber district, during which terrorist ring leader Shmrooz Sheenay was “sent to hell” by the security forces.

“In another operation conducted by the security forces in Dera Ismail Khan district, terrorist Mansoor was also successfully neutralised,” ISPR said.

It said that weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the slain terrorists, who remained “actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces”.

It said that the terrorists were also involved in extortion and target killings of innocent civilians and were highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies.

It added that a sanitisation operation was underway to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.

“Locals of the area appreciated the operations and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism,” it said.

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.