At least 23 soldiers embraced martyrdom as a group of six terrorists attacked security forces’ post in Dera Ismail Khan’s Daraban area in the early hours of 12 December 2023, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement on Tuesday.

The military’s media wing said that the attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted which forced the terrorists to ram an explosive laden vehicle into the post, followed by a suicide bombing attack.

“The resulting blasts led to the collapse of the building, causing multiple causalities; 23 brave soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom), while all six terrorists were effectively engaged and sent to hell,” the ISPR stated.

The ISPR said heightened activities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s district were witnessed on the night of December 11 and 12, wherein a total of 27 terrorists were sent to hell during various operations.

“An intelligence-based operation was conducted in general area Darazinda on reported presence of terrorists. During the conduct of operation, terrorists’ hideout was busted and seventeen terrorists were sent to hell,” it said in a statement.

The statement added that the troops effectively engaged terrorists’ location as a result of which four terrorists “were sent to hell” in another intelligence-based operation in general area Kulachi of the district.

“However, after intense exchange of fire, two brave sons of soil, having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat,” it added.

The killed terrorists, ISPR stated, were actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as killing of innocent civilians.

“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered during the operations.”

Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists present in the area, as security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthens our resolve, the military’s media wing said.

Terror attacks in KP

The outgoing year witnessed an alarming rise in terror-related incidents in the country in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular as at least 470 security personnel and civilians were killed in the province, so for.

According to statistics available with Geo News, 470 people were killed in 1,050 terror-related incidents in one year alone.

As per the record of the provincial home department and tribal affairs, 698 security personnel and citizens were killed in 1,823 terror-related incidents during the past three years.

Seven areas along the Pak-Afghan border in KP remained “terrorism hotspots” during the outgoing year. The areas include Peshawar, Khyber, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Bajaur and Tank.

Out of the 1,050 terror-related incidents, 419 were reported in bandobasti, 631 in the erstwhile Fata, 201 in North Waziristan, 169 in Khyber, 121 in South Waziristan, 98 in DI Khan, 62 in Bajaur, 61 each in Tank and Peshawar.