Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Saturday that security forces killed eleven terrorists in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In a statement, the military’s media affairs wing said the operations were carried out on Jan 8 and that the terrorists belonged to Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij.

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

It said that an IBO was conducted by the security forces in North Waziristan district on the reported presence of terrorists. During the operation, troops engaged the terrorists, and six were killed after an “intense fire exchange”.

“Another joint IBO by police and security forces was conducted in Kurram district. In the ensuing fire exchange, five khawarij were effectively neutralised,” it said.

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

It added that sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate other terrorists in the area, adding that the counterterrorism campaign would continue at “full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded the “professional capabilities of the armed forces” for the successful operations.

“We will continue the war against terrorism until it is completely eliminated,” the premier said, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

He said that Pakistan’s armed forces, as well as the police, remained engaged in combat with the enemies of the country.

“The entire nation, including myself, stands shoulder to shoulder with the security forces in their unwavering resolve to protect the homeland,” he said.

President Asif Ali Zardari also lauded the efforts of the security forces, stating that “the role of security forces and law enforcement agencies in protecting the lives and property of the people is commendable”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Despite record militant deaths, Pakistan saw a sharp escalation in militant violence in 2025, with terrorist attacks rising by 34 per cent and terrorism-related fatalities increasing by 21 per cent year on year, according to a report released by the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies.

In a press conference earlier this week, the Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry shared that law enforcement agencies of Pakistan — including the army, police, Federal Constabulary, and intelligence agencies — conducted a total of 75,175 IBOs in 2025.