Security forces have killed nine terrorists as a result of two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media wing said in a statement on Sunday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), “On 19 December 2025, nine khwarij belonging to Indian proxy fitna al khwarij were killed in two separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.”

Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

It added that the first intelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out on the reported presence of terrorists in the Dera Ismail Khan district of the province.

“During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij’s location, and after an intense fire exchange, four khwarij were sent to hell.”

Per the statement, the second IBO was conducted in the Bannu district. “In ensuing fire exchange, five more khwarij were effectively neutralised by the security forces.”

The ISPR said that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain terrorists, who had remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces, law enforcement agencies, and the target killing of innocent civilians.

“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji found in the area, as a relentless counterterrorism campaign under vision “Azm e Istehkam” (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by the security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” it said.

Earlier this year, Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent as compared to the previous year. The Global Terrorism Index 2025, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), provides a comprehensive summary of the key trends and patterns in terrorism over the last 17 years.

Last week, security forces had killed 13 terrorists in two operations in Mohmand and Bannu districts of the province.