PESHAWAR: Nine terrorists have been killed during an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, the media wing of the military said on Monday.
The terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group were killed during an encounter by security personnel in the Takwara area of Dera Ismail Khan district on Sunday, an ISPR statement said.
The statement said Pakistani troops effectively engaged the terrorists' location and killed nine terrorists, including high-value target Shireen, after an intense exchange of fire.
The statement said Shireen, a group leader, was wanted for his "involvement in numerous terrorist activities and "in target killing of innocent civilians.
Shireen was also responsible for the death of Captain Hasnain Akhtar on March 20. The forces also recovered weapons and ammunition from their possession, the statement added.
The statement said a sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate the presence of any other terrorists in the area.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the militant group ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
On Sunday, security forces killed eight terrorists and injured another four as they thwarted an infiltration attempt on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Violence by Militant and security operations intensified in Pakistan in March, with the number of terror attacks surpassing 100 for the first time since November 2014, data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) said.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 206 people, including 49 security personnel, 34 civilians, and 123 militants, were killed. It said 115 people, including 63 security personnel and 49 civilians, were injured in the province, the Picss report said.