RAWALPINDI: Security forces killed 27 terrorists in operations conducted in the Miranshah area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa`s North Waziristan district over the past 72 hours, the military`s media affairs wing said on Sunday.

`In continuation of a series of intelligence-based operations, security forces engaged multiple khawarij locations in the general area [Miramshah], North Waziristan District, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

It added that after `fierce exchanges of fire` 27 terrorists belonging to `India-sponsored Fitna al Khawarij were sent to hell`.

Fitna al Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

`By neutralising this group of killed khawarij, the heinous act of target killing of prominent figure Shaheed Malik Saifullah Dawar in Miranshah has been avenged, and perpetrators have been brought to justice,` the statement read.

Dawar`s killing outside his residence in early May had led to an intense gun battle between members of the Darpa Khel tribe and terrorists in Miramshah.

Sources said a day before the killing, suspected militants had allegedly occupied a local mosque, but Saifullah, along with other tribal elders, had intervened and forced them to vacate the premises.

On May 1, a large group of miscreants reportedly returned to the area, called Saifullah out of his house and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot, the sources had added.-Dawn Report