Seventeen terrorists were killed and another two were injured on Monday in two separate operations conducted by security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media affairs wing said.

In a press release, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that in an operation conducted in Tank District on Monday, “own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, as a result of which ten terrorists were sent to hell”.

Another engagement occurred in the “general area [of] Bagh, Khyber District, wherein the security forces sent seven terrorists to hell while two terrorists were injured”, the ISPR said.

However, “during the intense exchange of fire, five brave soldiers” — Naik Muhammad Ashfaq Butt, 32, resident of district Kahuta; Lance Naik Syed Danish Afkar, 30, resident of district Poonch; Sepoy Taimoor Malik, 32, resident of district Layyah; Sepoy Nadir Sageer, 22, resident of district Bagh; and Sepoy Muhammad Yasin, 23, resident of district Khushab — “having fought gallantly, embraced martyrdom”.

“A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as the innocent civilians,” the statement said.

It further said sanitisation operations were being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area, asserting that security forces were “determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve”.

Separately, referring to Sunday’s intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Peshawar’s Hassan Khel area, which killed five terrorists and injured another three, the ISPR said “six terrorists were successfully neutralised by the security forces and multiple hideouts were busted” during that action.

Captain Hussain Jehangir and Havildar Shafiqullah, who had been martyred during the same IBO, were laid to rest with full military honours in their native areas, Radio Pakistan reported.

A large number of senior serving military officers, families of martyrs and local people participated in the funeral prayers of the martyrs.

A total of 23 terrorists were killed in three separate operations in KP on May 26-27, the ISPR highlighted.

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 issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies in March, 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.