Three Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) terrorists were killed while one was injured during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in North Waziristan’s Razmak area, the military’s media wing confirmed on Friday.

According to a press release from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was carried out after security forces were informed of the presence of terrorists in the area.

“During [the] conduct of the operation, intense fire exchange took place between own troops and khwarij, as a result of which, 3 Khwarij of Fitna al Khawarij were sent to hell, while one kharji got injured,” the ISPR said.

It added that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from slain terrorists, who remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians.

“Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any other Kharji found in the area as security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of khawarij and terrorism from the country,” the statement added.

Earlier this month, the government declared TTP as Fitna al-Khawarij and all other terrorists associated with the group as khariji (outcasts).

Speaking during a press conference, ISPR Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the move was made because the TTP was a “mischief-making group” that was “neither an ideology nor has anything to do with Islam or Pakistan.”

He had added that security forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) conducted 23,622 small and large-scale IBOs in the country this year, out of which 2,045 operations were carried out in the second half of July.

A day prior, seven TTP terrorists were killed by security forces during another IBO in KP’s Kurram district.

The country has lately witnessed a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces, other law enforcement agencies, and security checkpoints, particularly in Balochistan and KP.

Attacks escalated after the TTP broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.

Islamabad has blamed Kabul for allowing the TTP — a separate group but aligned with the Afghan Taliban — to use Afghan soil for launching attacks inside Pakistan. However, the Taliban administration has denied the charges.