A high-value target was among nine militants killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.

“On the night of Oct 23/24, the security forces conducted an IBO on the reported presence of khawarij where “[own] troops effectively engaged the khawarij location”, the ISPR said in a statement.

“After [an] intense fire exchange, nine khawarij including two suicide bombers and a high-value target khariji ring leader Said Muhammad alias Qureshi Ustad were sent to hell,” it added.

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

A sanitisation operation was being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists in the area, the military’s media affairs wing said.

It added: “[The] security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.”

In July, the government, through an official notification, designated the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al Khawarij, while mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.

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.

Earlier this month, two terrorists were killed during an IBO in KP’s North Waziristan district.

In a separate incident, six soldiers were martyred and 12 terrorists were killed during during two encounters in North and South Waziristan.