The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Monday claimed seven terrorists were killed in a fire exchange during an operation conducted to arrest militants in the Mianwali district.

The CTD regularly carries out operations across the province to prevent and investigate terrorism-related activities and gather intelligence. Operating under the provincial police department, CTD Punjab plays a key role in maintaining internal security and countering terrorism within the country.

“Seven dangerous unidentified terrorists of Fitna-al-Khawarij were killed [while] eight fled,” the CTD said in a statement, referring to the official term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakis­tan (TTP).

According to the statement, the Punjab CTD carried out an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Mianwali’s Makarwal area to arrest terrorists, during which the latter opened fire on the agency’s team.

During an intense exchange of fire, seven terrorists were “killed by the firing of their accomplices [while] eight terrorists escaped taking advantage of the dark”, the CTD said.

It claimed having recovered six hand grenades, seven Kalashnikovs, safety fuse wire, as well as bullets and explosives from the terrorists.

“The terrorists had completed planning a major attack on Mianwali,” the statement read.

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A search operation to arrest the escaped terrorists had been initiated, the CTD said, adding that it had set up a blockade near Makarwal. The process of identifying the dead terrorists was under way as well, it said.

Last week, the Punjab CTD said it had arrested 18 terrorists belonging to banned organisations during 134 IBOs conducted across Punjab.

Pakistan has experienced an increase in terrorist attacks as a total of 45 of them occurred countrywide in September compared to 59 attacks in the previous month, according to a digital database maintained by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank.