LAHORE: The Punjab police have claimed killing 10 terrorists following an intense gunfight in the mountainous area of Malla Khel in Mianwali, a  spokesperson said on Thursday.

The spokesperson detailed that a police team headed by DPO Mianwali Akhtar Farooq conducted an operation on reported presence of 10 to 15 terrorists.

During the raid, terrorists opened fire at the police team and in retaliation, 10 of them were killed by the personnel.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since the Taliban government returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, mostly in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but also in southwestern Balochistan, which abuts Afghanistan and Iran.

Islamabad accuses Kabul's interim rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan.

Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee's recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism.