KABUL — Pakistan’s military has vowed to intensify counterterrorism operations amid a sharp rise in militant attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), blaming a “political-criminal nexus” and cross-border sanctuaries in Afghanistan for fueling instability along the frontier.
Addressing a press conference in Peshawar on Friday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan’s armed forces would “uproot terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” as the country faces its deadliest wave of violence in a decade.
He said the security forces carried out more than 14,500 intelligence-based operations in 2024 and over 10,000 so far this year, killing nearly 1,700 militants since last year. At least 516 Pakistanis, including soldiers, police, and civilians, have been killed in 2025 alone.
Chaudhry acknowledged that militant violence is heavily concentrated in KP, which accounts for 70% of terror incidents this year, calling it the result of “political patronage, criminal collusion, and weak governance.” He accused previous governments of allowing militant groups space to regroup in the province under “a well-thought-out plot.”
The ISPR chief said 161 Afghan nationals have been killed in terrorist incidents in Pakistan over the past two years, while 135 were neutralized during cross-border infiltration attempts. Nearly 30 suicide bombers, he added, were Afghan citizens. He urged the Taliban in Kabul to prevent Afghan soil from being used by non-state actors, warning that Pakistan had shared evidence of such activities with the Taliban authorities.
Chaudhry also claimed that India was using Afghan territory as a base for attacks against Pakistan through proxies, and that weapons left behind after the U.S. withdrawal had fallen into the hands of militant groups.
He criticized political groups for opposing the repatriation of Afghan refugees, describing it as “a national policy decision turned into political opportunism.” He said Pakistan had hosted millions of Afghans for decades “with dignity,” but that “fake narratives” were now being spread to undermine counterterrorism operations.
The general dismissed any possibility of dialogue with militant outfits such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), declaring, “Who are we to talk to, those who behead children and play football with their heads?”
His remarks come as Pakistan faces an escalating insurgency blamed on the TTP and its affiliates, many of whom Islamabad claims operate from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban has repeatedly denied.
