Twelve security personnel and six terrorists were killed as a suicide bomber rammed an explosive laden vehicle into a joint check post in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said on Wednesday.

The terrorists tried to attack a joint check post in the general area of MaliKhel in Bannu district late on Tuesday night, but their bid to enter the post was thwarted by the troops, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, said.

The suicide blast led to the collapse of a portion of perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the death of “12 brave sons of soil” including 10 soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary, ISPR said.

In the following exchange of fire, six soldiers were also killed, it added.

The injured have been shifted to a local hospital.

Sanitisation operations was being conducted and a curfew was imposed in the area.

Security forces and law enforcement agencies said they are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism.

The country as a whole, but particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp rise in terrorism-related incidents over the past year.

According to a think tank, Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the third quarter of the ongoing year witnessed a 90 per cent surge in violence in Pakistan, local media had reported earlier.

The attack comes a day after the country’s civil and military leadership on Tuesday approved a “comprehensive military operation” against terrorist organisations in Balochistan. The move is aimed at stemming the tide of militancy in the province that had seen several deadly attacks in recent months.

“The decision was taken by the Federal Apex Committee — a high-powered civil and military forum on counterterrorism.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting, which was attended by federal ministers, chief ministers, army chief Gen. Syed Asim Munir and senior government officials,” The Express Tribune said.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, are a separate group but are allies of the Afghanistan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.