Peshawar, March 15 Six terrorists were killed in a counter-terrorism operation in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, police said on Sunday.
The joint operation, based on intelligence, was carried out by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Kohat district police department after receiving information about the terrorists, said Kohat District Police Officer (DPO) Shahbaz Elahi.
The operation began late on Saturday and continued until early Sunday morning, Elahi said in a statement, adding that the terrorists were planning a large-scale attack in the Lachi tehsil of the district.
Subsequently, a large contingent of CTD personnel and police launched a search and strike operation.
Six terrorists were killed after a heavy exchange of fire when the suspects opened fire on the police team, the statement said.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, said the Kohat DPO, adding that a search operation was launched in the area after it was cordoned off.
In another incident, unidentified armed militants attacked the Khutti police checkpoint in the Dera Ismail Khan district of the province late on Saturday night, resulting in a heavy exchange of fire that injured a police constable.
In February, a suicide car bombing followed by gunfire targeted a security checkpoint in the Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel and a child.
In a separate incident last month, six law enforcement personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), were killed in a terrorist attack on a police vehicle in Kohat.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues to be affected by terrorism. According to the Annual Security Report 2025 from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the province recorded a significant surge in violence, with fatalities rising from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025.
The Pakistani government blames the banned terror outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for carrying out attacks on civilians and government infrastructure.
Attacks increased after the TTP broke a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.