Two terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire between security forces and militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday.

A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that a fire exchange took place between terrorists and security forces last night.

“Own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location as a result of which two terrorists were sent to hell. Weapons and explosives were also recovered from them,” it said.

“Weapons and explosives were also recovered from them,” it said.

“Sanitisation operation is being conducted 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,” it said.

A day earlier, security forces killed 10 terrorists in two operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Meanwhile, two terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Panjgur district.

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

According to a security report recently issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 432 violence-linked fatalities and 370 injuries among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, resulting from as many as 245 incidents of terror att­acks and counter-terror operations during the first quarter of 2024.

KP and Balochistan, both bordering Afghanistan, accounted for over 92 per cent of all fatalities and 86pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations, during this period. Individually, the former suffered 51pc and the latter 41pc of all fatalities in the first quarter of 2024, the report said.