Suicide bomber among 4 terrorists killed by security forces in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar: Pakistani security forces killed four wanted terrorists, including a suicide bomber, in an intelligence-based operation in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Wednesday.

The operation was carried out on Tuesday in the North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) -- the military's media cell.

After an intense exchange of fire, four terrorists, including a suicide bomber, were killed by the security forces, it said.

Those killed were wanted by law enforcement agencies for various terrorist activities and were also planning a major terror attack in the district.

Large quantities of arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession, according to the ISPR.

The attack comes as Pakistan recorded an unprecedented spike in terrorism-related violence in the past year, with the total violence-related fatalities reaching a record six-year high, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, according to data released by Islamabad-based think tanks.

According to the annual security report prepared by the Centre for Rese­arch and Security Studies (CRSS), at least 1,524 violence-related casualties and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations were recorded in Pakistan in 2023.

The total fatalities number marks a record six-year high, exceeding the 2018 level and the highest since 2017, the report said.

Another think tank, the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), in its annual report, said that Pakistan witnessed another year of an unprecedented surge in militant attacks.

The PICSS said that the country saw a staggering 69 per cent rise in attacks, an 81 per cent increase in resultant deaths, and a 60 per cent surge in the number of injured.