Security forces kill 13 terrorists in two KP IBOs: ISPR

• Forces exchange intense fire with terrorists in Mohmand.
• IBOs part of counterterrorism Azm-e-Istehkam campaign.
• Forces carry out sanitisation operations in areas after IBOs.
  

Security forces have gunned down as many as 13 terrorists in two separate operations conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military's media wing said on Sunday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was conducted in the Mohmand district on the reported presence of the Indian proxy Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists.

"During the conduct of operation, our troops effectively engaged the khawarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khawarij were sent to hell," it added.

In another IBO conducted in the Bannu district, six more terrorists were neutralised by the security forces.

"Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored kharji found in the area," the ISPR stated.

The operations are part the Azm-e-Istehkam campaign, approved by federal apex committee on National Action Plan.

Terrorist attacks have seen a sharp increase in Pakistan, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban regime grabbed power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban regime to prevent its soil from being used by terrorists against Pakistan, and the issue recently resulted in heightened tensions featuring cross-border attacks by the Afghan side, resulting in retaliation from Pakistani forces as well.

Recently, a meeting of Afghanistan's scholars at Kabul University emphasised that the country's soil must not be used to threaten or harm any other nation.

Islamabad welcomed the resolution as a "positive development"; however, it regretted that such commitments had been made in the past but were not honoured by the Afghan Taliban regime.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi, during his weekly briefing on December 11, reiterated Islamabad's demand for written assurances from Kabul that Afghan territory will not be allowed to be used by terrorist groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan.