The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement that personnel of security forces engaged with terrorist groups in two separate locations in the province on Thursday night.

The ISPR said that the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Katlang area of the Mardan district, resulting in the killing of a high-value terrorist target and ringleader named Faisal.

The military added that the slain terrorist was actively involved in numerous terrorist activities and was highly wanted by law enforcement agencies.

In another operation, a soldier was killed during an encounter with a group of terrorists in the country's northwest Parachinar region.

Earlier in the day, the military said that at least four Pakistani soldiers and three terrorists were killed in a gunfight at the Pakistani-Afghan border in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

(With UNI inputs)