Islamabad: Two soldiers and one terrorist were killed in an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists in the Mir Ali area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan district, Pakistan-based Dawn reported citing military's media affairs wing.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that troops "effectively engaged the terrorists' location." A terrorist was also killed in an exchange of fire, according to the Dawn report.

According to ISPR, Sepoy Abdullah (25) and Sepoy Muhammad Sohail (19) were killed during the exchange of fire. The ISPR said that the sanitisation of the surrounding areas is being conducted to neutralise any terrorists found in the area.

On November 11, three police personnel, including a station house officer (SHO), were killed and five others including a deputy superintendent of police sustained injuries after a terrorist attack on police in the Kari Shah Noor area of Pakistan's Tank, Dawn reported.

The police spokesperson said that DSP Chan Shah was leading a police party on Saturday to arrest the kidnappers of a woman in Shah Noor village when unidentified assailants opened fire on the vehicle. The police spokesperson said that attackers opened fire at the police after seeing the police team, according to a Dawn report.

According to a police spokesperson, SHO Shaheed Mureed Akbar, Abdul Ali Khan, and two constables, Wahab and Mohammad Alam were killed in the attack. He further said that five police personnel, including DSP Chan Shah, constables Ishfaq, Wafaq and Hidayat of Elite Force and constables Riaz and Ikram of district Tank, were injured.

Pakistan has witnessed a rise in terror activities in recent months, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the ceasefire between the Pakistan government and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended in November last year.

In a report released in October, the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said that 386 security personnel lost their lives in the first nine months of 2023, reaching an eight-year high, Pakistan-based Geo News reported.

In the third quarter of 2023, some 445 people were killed and 440 others were injured from 190 terror attacks and counter-terror operations, Geo News reported.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan remained the prime centres for violence, accounting for nearly 94 per cent of all fatalities and 89 per cent of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations recorded during this time.