Security forces foiled on Thursday an attempted suicide attack targeting a military post in the Kari Kot area of Lower South Waziristan’s Wana, killing four terrorists, sources said.

According to security sources, the terrorists tried to attack the security forces’ post using an explosives-laden vehicle. But the attempt was foiled as the threat was detected, and the suicide attacker was killed, they said.

The sources said that three other terrorists were also killed in the action taken by security forces.

They said the targeted post was being used to protect the local population and to prevent the movement of Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban — towards Wana Bazaar.

The sources said that the terrorists wanted to destroy the post after their persistent failure in achieving their objectives.

A search and clearance operation was launched in the area after their unsuccessful attempt to attack the post, they added.

Last month, the district administrations of Upper South Waziristan and Lower South Waziristan had imposed Section 144 in several areas due to security concerns and the movement of security forces.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.

South Waziristan, as well as the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been facing terrorism for a long time, with a monthly security assessment released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) stating that after two consecutive months of improvement, Pakistan’s security situation deteriorated sharply in May, driven primarily by escalating terrorist violence in KP and Balochistan.

In early May, security forces foiled an attempted suicide attack on a military post near Azam Warsak Bazaar in South Waziristan. A civilian was killed and 15 others sustained injuries in the incident.

Security sources said an explosives-laden coach was used in the attack and a religious seminary, a petrol pump, shops and the roofs of several houses near the military post were damaged.

Last year in November, Cadet College in Wana came under attack as terrorists rammed an explosives-laden vehicle against the main gate of the college, entered the educational facility and were then “cornered in the college’s administrative block”, the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

Security sources said that one suicide bomber and four other terrorists were killed in retaliatory action by security forces.