Security forces killed four terrorists during an operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat district on Friday, the military’s media wing said in a statement.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces and law enforcement personnel carried out a joint intelligence-based operation (IBO) based “on [the] reported presence of khwarij”.

“During the conduct of [the] operation, [our] own troops effectively engaged khwarij location, resultantly four khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement read, using the term designating terrorists.

The ISPR said that weapons and ammunition were seized from the dead terrorists, who were “actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”.

“[A] sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other kharji found in the area, as the security forces in coordination with law enforcement agencies of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

On Thursday, a soldier was martyred in an operation which also left four terrorists dead in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan [district[4.

According to the ISPR, security forces conducted the operation on Wednesday in DI Khan’s Maddi area “on [the] reported presence of khwarij”.

“During the conduct of [the] operation, [our] own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location, as a result of which, four khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR said.

However, Sepoy Basit Siddique, 23, “paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat (martyrdom)”.

Militant violence and security operations intensified in the country in March, with the number of militant attacks surpassing 100 for the first time since November 2014, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss).

In KP, at least 206 people were killed — including 49 security personnel, 34 civilians, and 123 militants — while 115 were injured, with 63 security personnel and 49 civilians among them, the Picss report said.