Security forces killed six terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday.

The IBO was conducted on Saturday in DI Khan’s general area of Zarkani on the “reported presence of khawarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna Al Khawarij”, the military’s media affairs wing said in a statement.

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

“Owing to [the] meticulous conduct of operation by security forces, six India-sponsored khawarij were sent to hell,” ISPR said.

It added that 36-year-old Naik Ghulam Murtaza, who hailed from Punjab’s Gujrat, and 30-year-old Sepoy Taseer Ahmed, a resident of Punjab’s Talagang, “fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifices and embraced martyrdom”.

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces and law enforcement agencies, as well as the killing of innocent civilians”, the ISPR statement noted.

A sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area, ISPR said.

It affirmed that the “relentless counterterrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i- Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.

“These sacrifices of our brave soldiers further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” the military’s media wing stated.

Surge in terrorism

KP has been witnessing terrorist attacks and security challenges for a long time. The province, excluding the merged districts, recorded 54 terrorist attacks in August compared with 36 in July, representing an increase of 50 per cent, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

In response to these incidents, security forces have been conducting operations in various parts of the province.

Earlier this month, security forces killed eight terrorists during an IBO in DI Khan, state media reported, citing security sources.

On Friday, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir affirmed that the armed forces will continue the counterterrorism campaign against India-sponsored terrorist groups “to the fullest”, vowing to “hit them hard wherever they are”.

CDF Munir visited the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, where he was briefed on the security situation, ongoing counterterrorism operations, border management measures and the operational preparedness of formations deployed in the province.

According to a report from the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan recorded a sharp 83 per cent increase in violence-linked fatalities during the third quarter of 2026, reversing a declining trend reported in the first and second quarters.

Balochistan and KP remained the epicentres of violence, jointly accounting for 98pc of all fatalities during the period.