Security forces have killed 10 terrorists during multiple operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media wing said on Friday.

A statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the operations took place a day ago and today with the first encounter in Dera Ismail Khan district’s general area of Khulachi where an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out on the reported presence of terrorists.

“During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and resultantly, four khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR said, using the term the state assigned to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

It added that six more terrorists were “successfully neutralised” in four separate encounters in North Waziristan district’s general areas of Datta Khel, Hassan Khel, Ghulam Khan, and Mir Ali.

The ISPR said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the killed terrorists who were actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in these areas against the security forces as well as the killing of innocent civilians.

It added that sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country,” the ISPR concluded.

Pakistan has recently witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan.

Terror attacks have increased since the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan group broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government. With at least 685 members of security forces losing their lives amid a total of 444 terror attacks, 2024 turned out to be the deadliest year for the civil and military security forces of Pakistan in a decade.

Equally alarming were the cumulative losses of civilians and security personnel: 1,612 fatalities, accounting for over 63 per cent of the total recorded the past year and marking 73pc more losses compared to 934 outlaws eliminated. The overall fatalities recorded last year were a record nine-year high, and over 66pc more than in 2023. On average, nearly seven lives were lost daily.