Six terrorists were killed while eight were injured in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district on Saturday, according to the military’s media wing.

According to a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was conducted based on the “reported presence of terrorists” in the district’s general area of Mir Ali.

During the operation, an “intense fire exchange” took place between the military troops and the militants, “as a result of which six terrorists were sent to hell while eight terrorists got injured”, the ISPR said.

The statement added that during the exchange, Sepoy Abdul Hakeem, 33, “fought gallantly” and embraced martyrdom.

“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed terrorists who remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and target killing of innocent civilians,” the military said.

It added that sanitisation of the area was being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists in the area.

“Locals of the area appreciated the operation and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism,’ the statement said.

Earlier this week, two militants were killed in separate operations in KP while two suspected militants were killed in Balochistan’s Kech district.

A day before that, two soldiers had embraced martyrdom while five terrorists had been killed during an IBO in Balochistan’s Zhob district.

Uptick in terror activities

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.

That was the military’s highest single-day death toll from terrorist attacks reported this year. Before this, 10 personnel were martyred in a ‘fire raid’ in Balochistan’s Kech district in February 2022.

Earlier this month, data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) said the number of militant attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years.

There were 99 attacks across the country, the highest number in a single month since November 2014, the report had said.