Security forces have killed 22 terrorists and injured 18 others in various intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across the Tirah valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber district since December 14, the military’s media wing said on Thursday.

A statement issued from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “Of late, numerous terrorist incidents have occurred in general area Tirah, Khyber district against security forces as well as the innocent civilians, resulting in several casualties.”

Subsequently, the ISPR said security forces were conducting extensive IBOs in the area against terrorists, due to which 22 were “successfully neutralised” and 18 injured since Dec 14.

The ISPR added that the IBOs would continue till peace in the area was restored and the terrorists were eliminated. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” it concluded.

On Tuesday, an encounter took place in the general area of Tirah valley, where security forces “successfully neutralised two terrorists.”

Armed terrorists, affiliated with various groups, are understood to have gradually moved out of the plains of Tirah valley, taking refuge in vacant houses in the hilly terrain, as security forces fortified their positions in key locations of the valley.

Sources in the region had told Dawn that the situation in most parts of the valley was calm, with no major terror-related incident reported last month.

They said the armed terrorists, who were frequently seen in different parts of Tirah valley, had either returned to Afghanistan or shifted to the bordering Orakzai district, with some opting to “settle down” in partially damaged houses in the peripheral hilly areas to avoid public attention.

The sources had said terrorists had shifted to Sanda Paal, Dray Naghari and Daroota villages before taking refuge in empty houses.

They said those areas were vacated by residents in November in anticipation of a military operation after a surge in terrorist attacks on military convoys and security checkposts.

Residents of Kamarkhel, Takhtaki, Ghulam Ali and Sukh localities had told Dawn that terrorists would suddenly barge into their houses and demand food and other essential items.

They said that the ‘unwanted’ presence of terrorists in their houses “at odd times” had led to a constant fear of a targeted action by the security forces for sheltering them.

The residents had insisted that terrorists had not caused them any personal harm so they couldn’t refuse food and shelter to them, especially when they were heavily armed.

Local sources had claimed that the terrorists were always on the move for fear of a targeted operation by the security forces.

Regarding the identity and affiliations of terrorists, they had revealed that the armed men were associated with banned outfits Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-i-Islam, Amarat-i-Islami and the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, which were operational in parts of the valley.

The sources had said that though the exact number of terrorists who had shifted to the hilly areas for fear of a full-fledged military operation was not known, they totalled 70-100, with the rest fleeing the valley for the time being.

Pakistan has recently witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan.

Terror attacks have increased since the TTP broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.

With at least 685 members of security forces losing their lives amid a total of 444 terror attacks, 2024 turned out to be the deadliest year for the civil and military security forces of Pakistan in a decade, according to a 2024 report issued by the Center for Research and Security Studies think-tank.

According to the ISPR director general, security forces conducted a total of 59,775 operations last year during which 925 terrorists were killed and 383 officers and soldiers were martyred.