Two terrorists, including suicide bomber, killed in Lakki Marwat operation

Two terrorists were killed in a police operation in the Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, police said. According to the Daily Times, one of those killed was a suicide bomber.

Police launched the operation after receiving a tip-off about militants in the area. The group opened fire when officers approached, and police returned fire, killing two of them. A third terrorist was injured but managed to escape during the exchange.

Police said the terrorists belonged to Fitna al-Khawarij, the term the state uses for members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfikar Hameed said security forces had foiled a "large-scale terrorist attempt" by neutralising the terrorists. Police have not given further details about the injured individual or the attack that was planned, the Daily Times reported.

The operation comes after a series of deadly attacks. Last week, a blast at a joint checkpoint near Aman Mela in Darazinda, Dera Ismail Khan, killed 12 people and injured 35 others. The TTP claimed responsibility for that attack.

On September 19, a blast at a mosque in Kohat's Police Lines during Friday prayers killed 23 people, including 15 police personnel. Eight terrorists were later killed in a search and clearance operation in Kohat. The Ittihadul Mujahideen Pakistan, led by Afghanistan-based Hafiz Gul Bahadur, claimed responsibility for the Kohat attack.

In a separate incident in Hangu district, six security personnel, including a captain and a lieutenant, were killed in an exchange of fire, and eight terrorists were killed. In Balochistan, six personnel and a customs official died on September 1 when an attempt to breach the Customs House was thwarted, and at least 30 people, including 27 police personnel, were killed in an ambush in Ziarat in July.