Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that rising terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP, a north-western province bordering Afghanistan) "must be stopped" at any cost, as state media reported security forces killed 13 militants in an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan. The militants were described as members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, which the state calls "Fitna al-Khawarij". The push follows deadly attacks in September, including a Kohat blast that killed 23 people and a suicide bombing in Dera Ismail Khan that killed 12, while think-tank data shows KP attacks rose 50 per cent between July and August.