Two Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred on Saturday in an intelligence-based operation (IBO), conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner district, based on the reported presence of suspected terrorists, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

According to ISPR, Lance Havildar Mudassar Mehmood and Lance Naik Haseeb Javed embraced martyrdom.

During the operation, a “high-value target” identified as Saleem Rabbani was “sent to hell” after an intense gun battle, while two other terrorists were injured, the statement added.

“[The] terrorist Saleem Rabbani remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as extortion [and] target killings of innocent civilians,” the press release read.

The ISPR stated that weapons, along with a large quantity of explosives, were also recovered from the slain militants in today’s operation, adding that they remained “actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”.

The alleged terrorist Saleem had a bounty of Rs5 million placed on him and was wanted by law enforcement agencies and the government, the military’s media wing said.

However, during the operation, two brave sons of the soil, Lance Havildar Mudassar Mehmood, 36, of Rawalpindi, and Lance Naik Haseeb Javed, 27, a resident of Poonch, having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat [martyrdom], the ISPR stated.

According to additional information from the ISPR, Lance Havildar Mudassar and Lance Naik Haseeb served 16 and five years in the army, respectively.

A sanitisation operation is under way to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area, the press release said.

“Security forces of Pakistan remain determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded the security forces for the successful operation and expressed regret over those martyred.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also paid tribute to the martyrs for their efforts in the operation.

This was the second such operation in KP this week, with two terrorists killed in an IBO in South Waziristan on Tuesday. A press release from the ISPR had said that two terrorists were successfully “neutralised and sent to hell” after an intense exchange of fire between security forces and militants.

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.