Four militants including a “high value terrorist” were killed in two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the army’s media affairs wing said on Saturday.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces carried out operations in Mir Ali, located in the North Waziristan district, and in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan.

During the North Waziristan operation, an intense exchange of fire took place between the forces and terrorists. As a result, the military stated, “High-value terrorist Tabassum, alias Qadarman, along with terrorist Sajid, aka Sarkandi, were sent to hell by the forces.”

It said that another operation was jointly conducted by the security forces and police in Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan where two more terrorists were “sent to hell”.

“These terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as target killings of innocent civilians. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from them,” the ISPR said.

The statement added that sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist found in the area.

“Locals of the area appreciated the operations and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism,” the ISPR added.

On Wednesday, two Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in KP’s Lakki Marwat district.

Two terrorists were also killed during the exchange of fire as “own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location”, the ISPR had said.

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

According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 — marking a record six-year high.

KP and Balochistan provinces were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.