Islamabad, April 19 : Four terrorists were killed during a joint operation of security forces and law enforcement agencies in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said.

The intelligence-based operation was conducted in Swat district of the province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said on Friday in a statement.

Security forces engaged the terrorists at their location, killing all four terrorists, said the ISPR, adding that a huge cache of weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the terrorists' hideout, Xinhua news agency reported.

The killed terrorists were involved in numerous terror activities in the area, said the statement.

Earlier, security forces killed four terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the Maddi area of Dera Ismail Khan district on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, ARY News reported that during the first quarter of 2025, terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) resulted in the deaths of 152 people, including police officers, security personnel, and civilians.

According to a report released by the KP Police, 302 individuals were also injured in these incidents.

The report noted that civilians were the most affected, with 45 deaths and 127 injuries reported between January and March.

The police force lost 37 members, with 46 others sustaining injuries.

Additionally, the Frontier Corps (FC) suffered the loss of 34 personnel, with 43 more wounded in the attacks, Ary News reported.

According to data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a think-tank, the nation saw a significant rise in terrorist activity in January 2025, with a 42 per cent increase compared to the previous month.

The report revealed that there were at least 74 militant attacks across the country, resulting in 91 deaths, which included 35 security personnel, 20 civilians, and 36 militants.

Additionally, 117 people were injured, including 53 members of the security forces, 54 civilians, and 10 militants.

KP remained the worst-affected province, followed by Balochistan.

In KP's settled districts, militants carried out 27 attacks, resulting in 19 fatalities, including 11 security personnel, six civilians, and two militants.

/IANS