Three terrorists were killed while two others were injured during intelligence-based operations (IBOs) carried out by security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu District, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday.

Facing a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces and other law enforcement agencies, especially in KP and Balochistan, the state has intensified counterterrorism operations under Vision Azm-i-Istehkam.

According to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted an IBO in Bannu District in the early hours of November 22 on the “reported presence of khwarij”.

“During conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged khwarij location, as a result of which, three khwarij were sent to hell while two khwarij got injured,” the statement read.

In July, the government had designated the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al Khawarij, while mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.

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In its statement, the ISPR said weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians”.

A sanitisation operation “was being carried out to eliminate any other khariji found in the area”, the ISPR noted, reaffirming that the security forces of Pakistan were “determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country”.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the security forces for their successful operation, Radio Pakistan reported.

In their separate statements, they reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to the war against terrorism. PM Shehbaz asserted the government will continue to foil the evil designs of enemies of humanity.

The restive Bannu district has seen heightened militant violence of late. On Tuesday, 12 security personnel were martyred while six terrorists were killed after a checkpost was targeted in the district’s Mali Khel area.

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Other recent incidents include the abduction of seven cops who were later recovered, an attack on a girls’ school and a shootout that martyred three security men.

According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss), a think tank based in Islamabad, 55 security personnel have been killed in the first 20 days of November compared to 30 during the same period last month. Sixty-three terrorists were also killed in clashes with security forces in the past 20 days.

In October, security forces lost 62 personnel, marking the highest number of such casualties in any month this year, data from Picss showed, with 32 killed in the last 10 days of October alone.