Security forces killed a terrorist during an exchange of fire in the Shewa area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) North Waziristan district on the night between February 8 and February 9, the military's media affairs wing said on Wednesday.

       According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the killed terrorist was identified as Irfan alias Abu Darda and weapons and ammunition were found in his possession.

       Irfan was involved in terrorist activities against security forces, target killings and kidnappings for ransom, the ISPR said, adding that local residents of the area "appreciated the operation and expressed their full support for eliminating the menace of terrorism from the area".

       Recently, there has been a rise in terrorist attacks on security forces and earlier today Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed the resolve not to let desperate revival attempts by terrorists succeed.

       According to an earlier statement by the ISPR, he was presiding over 247th Corps Commanders’ Conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where a comprehensive briefing on the security situation in the country, particularly the recent terror attacks in Balochistan, was given.

       Gen Bajwa expressed satisfaction over the operational preparedness of the army’s formations and safeguards in place for the defence of the country, the statement said, adding that the army's top brass paid tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the defence of the country while "valiantly repulsing recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan & inflicting heavy losses on them".

       "We have come a long way in our fight against terrorism. Armed forces, with the support of the nation, have conducted successful operations against terrorists of all hues and colours," the army chief told the participants.

       "We will eliminate all remnants of terrorists, their abettors & accomplices whatever is the cost," the COAS emphasised.