Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Friday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should rather work on protecting the people of the province instead of “begging Afghanistan” for security.
The DG ISPR made these remarks while addressing a press conference at Peshawar Corps Headquarters.
He said that governance gaps in KP were being paid for by the blood of security personnel.
“Appeasement of terrorists and their facilitators is never and not a policy,” he asserted, adding that the state and its institutions would not be bothered by “any political distortions”.
“The state and its people will not and cannot be left to the whims of any single person who is singularly the most responsible person for bringing terrorism back to KP.”
He said that he hoped the government would focus on governance and the people it was duty-bound to protect. “We also hope that instead of begging Afghanistan for security, you will protect this province and its people.”
The DG ISPR began the press conference with paying homage on behalf of the armed forces of Pakistan to the “brave sons of soil” of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said the purpose of the press conference was to give an overview of the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
For the past two decades, Pakistan, particularly KP, has been facing the issue of terrorism, he said.
In 2024, he said, 14,535 intelligence-based operations were conducted in KP, 769 terrorists, including 58 Afghan terrorists, were killed and 272 army and FC personnel and 140 policemen were martyred while 165 civilians were killed.
Moreover, he continued, 10,115 operations were conducted in 2025 until September 15. In these operations, 970 terrorists were killed while 311 Pakistan army personnel were martyred.
While terrorism incidents had started increasing 2021 onwards, “the response also went up”, the DG ISPR said. “And more number of kharijis were killed in subsequent years.”
The DG ISPR said following the 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, security forces had started uprooting terrorism as part of a comprehensive strategy.
“We reached close to [realising] the dream of a peaceful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. [But], unfortunately, as part of a plan, terrorists and their facilitators were then provided space here.
“Governance and public welfare were deliberately weakened and attempts were made to build a misleading narrative. The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are paying its price with their blood and sacrifices even today.”
He then outlined the factors that led to this situation.
First reason, he said, was not fully implementing the National Action Plan, followed by politicising the issue of terrorism, India using Afghanistan as a “base of operation for terrorism” in Pakistan, the provision of modern weapons to terrorists in Afghanistan and the existence of a “terrorism-crime nexus” that had “complete local and political backing”.
Going back to the 2014 APS attack, he said all political parties, and the provincial and federal government devised the NAP. “All political parties agreed that the implementation of the NAP was necessary for eliminating terrorism.”
But, he added, the then-government removed some provisions of the plan in 2021 despite progress in those areas and came up with the “revised” NAP. All political parties, provincial governments and the federal government then agreed to the full implement all 14 points of the revised plan, he said.
Pointing to a graphic of the plan on the screen, he said the first point concerned kinetic operations.
“Is this being worked on or not? I have presented the data for KP to you. Just in KP, are law enforcement agencies not conducting more than 40 intelligence-based operations?”
He asserted that the empirical evidence demonstrated that work was being done on the first point of the NAP. He then went on to question the work being done on the remaining 13 points.
“Today, are we all standing under one narrative? Do you not hear voices calling for talks with these terrorists? Are we following this a NAP?
“Does the solution to all problems lie in dialogue? You tell me. If the solution for every problem is in dialogue, then when India fired missiles on Pakistan on May 6 and 7 … why didn’t the people of this country say let’s hold talks?”
If the solution lay in just holding dialogue, there would be no wars, he emphasised.
Coming to the fifth factor he mentioned as a reason for the rise in terrorism, he said it had been decided to “break the terror-crime nexus” in order to eradicate terrorism. Moreover, he said, it had also been decided to “strengthen the judiciary” with regard to counter-terrorism cases.
Then, pulling up another graphic, the DG ISPR detailed the cases in anti-terrorism courts in KP.
He said that no one was convicted, while 34 cases were pending. “This is the judicial system that was to be strengthened. The political government of the time decided it, we did not.”
The DG ISPR further stated that the decision had been made to strengthen KP police. Noting that the provincial police was currently 3,200-personnel strong, he asked: “ The terrorism (situation) is before you all. Is this [number] enough?“
The army spokesperson also noted that the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan was being “politicised”.
“Misleading things were said when these decisions were taken.”
He said that after the US left Afghanistan in 2021, “they left behind weapons and ammunition that are now being used by terrorists. Those weapons were found in the custody of terrorists killed in operations in KP.”
During the press conference, the DG ISPR was also asked about media reports alleging a strike was carried out in Kabul last night to eliminate the banned terror outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) leader, Noor Wali Mehsud.
In his response, he said the army had taken note of the reports circulating on social media and the statement issued by the Taliban spokesperson.
“Afghanistan is a neighbourly, Islamic country. We have historical connections, cultural connections. Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for four decades. We only say one thing to the Afghan government: do not allow your soil to be used for terrorism against Pakistan,” he added.
He pointed out that trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan was also continuing, and many Afghans came to Pakistan for medical reasons. “So we only have an extremely fair demand: don’t let your soil be used by non-state actors and terrorist groups.”
“Is it wrong to ask? It is absolutely fair, it is correct, it is rational, it is our right. And for this, we also engage them at multiple levels,” he said, highlighting several bilateral and multilateral engagements.
“Yes, we do engage them and we clearly communicate [to them] … that these are the [terrorist] leaders, their facilitators and their centres [in Afghanistan].
Yes, we engage [with Afghanistan], but at the same time, we are doing and will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the lives of Pakistan’s people and its territorial integrity,” the DG ISPR continued.
When pressed for more clarity on alleged strikes in Afghanistan, the DG ISPR said, “I have made it clear that Afghanistan is being used as a base of operations for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan. There is also evidence of this. And I have also said that all the necessary steps for protecting the people’s lives and property are being taken and will continue to be taken.”
More to follow
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