ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed nine terrorists and arrested two others in two separate engagements in Dosalli and Esham areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, Inter-Services Public Relations said on Sunday. The intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted by the security forces on January 11 on the reported presence of terrorists in the areas. The first IBO was conducted in the tribal district’s general area Dosalli in which troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and resultantly, six terrorists were killed and two others were apprehended. Subsequently, three terrorists were neutralised by security forces after an intense fire exchange in the Esham area. Two terrorists were also wounded in the gunbattle, the military’s media wing said. It added that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians. “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other kharji [terrorists] found in the area, as security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” it concluded. The nation has been reeling under rising violent attacks since the Taliban rulers returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The year 2024 turned out to be the deadliest for Pakistan’s civil and military security forces in a decade with at least 685 fatalities and 444 terror attacks, according to “CRSS Annual Security Report 2024” issued by the Centre for Security and Strategic Studies.