Five terrorists were killed after the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber district on Sunday, the military’s media affairs wing said.

According to a press release issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was conducted on the reported presence of terrorists in the area.

It said that security forces effectively engaged with the terrorists and five terrorists were killed as a result.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as innocent civilians, it said.

Sanitisation operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area, it added.

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.

On Tuesday, the security forces “neutralised” 11 terrorists who were involved in the attack on seven security officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat.

Last month, an army officer was martyred and three terrorists were killed during an IBO in Balochistan’s Zhob district.

In a separate incident, 17 terrorists were killed and another two were injured on May 27 in two separate operations conducted by security forces in KP.