- Over 75,000 operations conducted, 2,597 militants killed, and more than 1,200 security personnel and civilians lost their lives in 2025, says DG ISPR

By Imran Nasir

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Tuesday said that both India and the Afghan Taliban of being the primary sources of growing instability in the region and both are actively facilitating and supporting terrorist groups targeting Pakistani territory.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, during a nearly three hours long comprehensive press conference, presented statistics, operational details, and what he described as “irrefutable evidence” of cross-border militancy.

According to the Pakistani military spokesman, Pakistan’s security forces carried out 75,175 intelligence-based and counterterrorism operations in 2025 in response to an unprecedented surge in militant violence. These operations, he said, were conducted amid 5,397 terrorist incidents nationwide, resulting in the elimination of 2,597 militants. At the same time, 1,235 security personnel and civilians were martyred, underscoring what he described as the heavy human cost of the fight against terrorism.

He revealed that the country endured 27 suicide attacks and 10 major assaults during the year, adding that all of the suicide bombers involved in the major attacks were Afghan nationals. “This is not a coincidence,” he said, linking the pattern of violence directly to the militant infrastructure across the border.

- Sharp regional disparities in violence

Breaking down the operational and incident data, the DG ISPR said that 14,658 operations were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while 58,000 took place in Balochistan, reflecting the concentration of militant activity in the two provinces. Of the 5,397 terrorism incidents, 3,811 occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,557 in Balochistan, and 29 in the rest of the country.

“These figures alone show where the pressure is coming from,” he said, emphasizing that Pakistan’s western border regions remain the main battleground in what he termed a “foreign-sponsored insurgency.”

- Post-2021 surge in attacks

The military spokesperson pointed to a dramatic rise in attacks since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. He said that in 2021 Pakistan recorded 761 terrorist incidents, but by 2025 that number had crossed 5,000, a more than six-fold increase.

“This is clear evidence that after the Afghan Taliban took over in Kabul, terrorism against Pakistan has intensified,” he stated.

He recalled that under the Doha Agreement, the Afghan Taliban had pledged to the international community that Afghan soil would not be used against any country. “That commitment has not only been violated; it has been completely abandoned,” he said.

According to the ISPR chief, more than 20 terrorist groups are now operating from Afghanistan, including Al-Qaeda, Daesh (ISIS), the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), and various Central Asian militant outfits. He further disclosed that around 2,500 international militants recently moved into Afghanistan from Syria, following developments there.

“Who invited them? Who is hosting them? These are fighters of multiple nationalities now being allowed to regroup on Afghan soil,” he asked.

He said that today the entire world has come to acknowledge Pakistan’s long-held position that terrorist groups are now based in Afghanistan, with the international community—including the United Nations Security Council—urging the Afghan Taliban to distance itself from these groups and eliminate them from Afghan soil.

- Allegations of Taliban backing for TTP

At the center of Pakistan’s concerns, he said, is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a terrorist group, responsible for hundreds of attacks. The DG ISPR said that the Afghan Taliban of organizing, restructuring, and training the TTP, as well as providing ideological and operational support.

He claimed that Taliban leaders present their takeover of Afghanistan and the U.S. withdrawal as a “victory narrative” to inspire and recruit militants.

“They tell people they defeated a superpower and expelled it from Afghanistan. This message is being used to radicalize, to mobilize, and to send fighters across the border into Pakistan,” he said.

He also highlighted what he called a “grave concern”: the $7.2 billion worth of weapons and military equipment left behind by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

“This advanced weaponry is now in the hands of terrorist groups,” he said, warning that it has significantly enhanced their operational capability. He described the conflict as having become a “war economy” for militant networks, with weapons, extortion, and cross-border facilitation sustaining their activities.

- India accused of using proxies

In one of his strongest reaction, the DG ISPR said that India has joined hands with militant groups operating from Afghanistan, claiming New Delhi is now facilitating and financing terrorists as proxies against Pakistan.

He added that when funding sources for these groups dry up, “India steps in with money, logistics, and political backing.”

He recalled that after heightened tensions with India last year, attacks inside Pakistan increased sharply. “We saw a pattern where militants based in Afghanistan were activated following developments with India,” he said, adding that the violence extended to the targeting of civilians and even schoolchildren.

Among the incidents he referenced were attacks on a school bus in Khuzdar and the Cadet College in Wana, Waziristan, which he described as deliberate attempts to spread fear and destabilize society. “When children become targets, it leaves no doubt about the nature of the enemy we are facing,” he said.

- October airstrikes and border clashes

Addressing cross-border tensions, the DG ISPR detailed Pakistan’s airstrikes in October against TTP hideouts and training facilities in border areas of Afghanistan. He stressed that the strikes exclusively targeted TTP infrastructure and that no Afghan Taliban posts or civilian homes were hit.

However, he said that in response, the Afghan Taliban attacked Pakistani military posts along the border, effectively siding with the TTP.

“After we targeted the terrorists who were attacking us, the Afghan Taliban directly struck our army and Frontier Corps positions,” he said.

Pakistan, he added, responded in accordance with international law. “We acted in defense of our territorial integrity. Any state has the right to respond when its territory is attacked by forces acting in concert with terrorist organizations.”

He said that after the exchange, Taliban representatives sought talks abroad, but Pakistan remained firm. “We have shared concrete evidence of where TTP leaders and fighters are based in Afghanistan,” he said.

“Instead of taking action against them, the Afghan Taliban continue to shelter and support them.”

- Confessions and drone allegations

The ISPR chief said that of the ten major terrorist incidents, 78 militants had crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, and all were neutralized by security forces. He added that during the briefing, video footage of captured militants was shown, in which they confessed to receiving training in Afghanistan before being dispatched to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

He also rejected allegations that Pakistani forces were conducting drone strikes against civilians. “Our institutions use drones strictly for surveillance and security purposes,” he said, countering that it is the TTP that operates quadcopters, a capability they have acquired through training in Afghanistan.

He further alleged that these militant groups now maintain a dedicated “quadcopter wing,” again pointing to India as their principal external sponsor.

- Border management and decline in attacks

On border security, the DG ISPR said that Pakistan’s decision to close certain crossings with Afghanistan in October led to a noticeable decline in terrorist incidents. This, he argued, proved that militants had been infiltrating Pakistan disguised as civilians.

“Wherever infiltration attempts were detected afterward, our forces eliminated the terrorists on the spot,” he said, that hundreds of militants were killed within three months following the tighter controls.

- A message on negotiations

Responding to questions regarding any dialogue with militant groups, the DG ISPR was unequivocal. “ How can there be talks with those who are killing our children?” he asked.

“We are carrying the funerals of our children every day because of them. We have started a war against these terrorists and their facilitators, and this war will only end when they are completely eliminated.”

At the same time, he said Pakistan would continue engaging the Afghan Taliban diplomatically, reiterating that Islamabad’s sole demand over the past four years has been that Afghan soil not be used for attacks against Pakistan.

“We stand with the Afghan people,” he said. “Our issue is not with them. Our issue is with the Afghan Taliban leadership, whose actions are destroying their own country and destabilizing the entire region.”

- A warning to the region

Framing the issue as a regional and international security threat, the DG ISPR warned that militancy emanating from Afghanistan no longer targets only Pakistan. With multiple global groups present, he said, the threat has implications far beyond South Asia.

“Pakistan is on the front line of this fight,” he concluded. “We will defend our territorial integrity, we will protect our people, and we will not allow any state or non-state actor—whether backed by the Afghan Taliban or facilitated by India—to use terrorism as a tool against us.”

DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, briefed the media on the latest security developments and operations against terrorism.