Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif on Friday blamed governance failures in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the resurgence of terrorism in the province.
Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, he noted that that security forces had conducted 14,535 intelligence-based operations in KP in 2024, killing 769 terrorists, including 58 Afghans. During these operations, he said, 272 Army/FC personnel, 140 police and 165 civilians were martyred.
Thus far in 2025, he said, security forces had conducted 10,115 intelligence-based operations. Noting terrorist incidents had started increasing in 2021, he stressed that it had also led to a rise in the number of casualties among terrorists.
Explaining the reasons for the increase in terrorism, the military spokesman said the primary culprit was the non-implementation of the revised National Action Plan (NAP) from 2021. Listing the clauses of the revised plan, which he noted was approved by the same politicians who were still in power in KP, he said the very first point was zero tolerance for terrorism. This, he stressed, was decided between all political forces after the attack on the Army Public School in 2014.
Despite this, he regretted, people resorted to advocating for dialogue to resolve prevailing problems to boost their political narratives. While he did not name any party or individual, the criticism appeared to refer to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, whose party has ruled KP since 2008 and who has recently criticized ongoing military operations, advocating dialogue with terrorist elements as a means to achieve peace.
“Dialogue is not the solution to all problems,” emphasized the DG ISPR. Unfortunately, he said, some people were doing politics on terrorism and in doing so misleading the public. Pointing to another point of NAP, he said it had called for strengthening judicial systems yet this year KP Anti-Terrorism Courts had achieved zero convictions, with 34 cases still pending. He also noted that despite KP being the epicenter of terrorism in Pakistan, the province’s Counter-Terrorism Department had a total operational strength of merely 3,200. “This is not enough,” he said, stressing the policy had been in place since 2014 and was agreed upon by all political forces.
On another point, he noted that KP had registered just 54.3% of madrassas, or 4,355 of 8.011. The rest have not been registered, much less have had any oversight imposed on them, he regretted.
Referring to yet another point on the revised NAP, he said it had called for the repatriation of Afghan refugees back to their homeland. This, he stressed, was decided in both 2014 and 2021. “Why is there now a demand this should not happen?” he questioned, stressing certain elements were seeking to politicize the situation despite themselves committing to it in the past. He reaffirmed that Afghanistan remained a base for Indian proxies, with around 30 suicide bombers this year possessing Afghan nationality. He said the terrorists from across the border possessed U.S. weapons, citing a report that said more than $7.2 billion worth of U.S. military equipment was abandoned when U.S. forces left Afghanistan.
Governance failures
Emphasizing that governance failures had boosted terrorism in KP, the DG ISPR said of the 3,984 terrorist incidents nationwide this year, 2,809 were in KP alone. “Why more than 70% are in KP?” he questioned, pointing to Sindh and Punjab maintaining peace due to proper governance, with functional police forces. “There is no terror-crime nexus [in Sindh and Punjab],” he said, accusing KP authorities of causing confusion on security matters to hide their poor governance. “These governance gaps are being filled with blood of our martyrs,” he said.
“The nexus between criminal and political forces is behind terrorism in KP,” he said. “Appeasement of terrorists and their facilitators is never and can never be a policy,” he said, adding a single individual could not be permitted to put the lives of Pakistanis and residents of KP at stake for political expediency.
“Armed forces are performing internal security duties in KP as per law,” he said. Rather than facilitating criminal mafia and spreading fake news, the armed forces expect the government to perform its basic duty. “We also expect you to not beg Afghanistan for security instead of helping security forces perform their duties,” he said in an apparent reference to the PTI founder’s recent demand to make Afghans and the Afghan government “stakeholders” in Pakistan’s anti-terrorism policies.
“The armed forces want to make clear that terrorists and their supporters, regardless of who they might be, will not be tolerated,” he warned. “The blood of our martyrs will not be wasted,” he stressed. “The status quo will not continue anymore,” he said, adding that anyone facilitating terrorists had three choices before them: handover the terrorists to security forces; help bring these people to justice for security of citizens; or be ready for action against them.
“We thank our martyrs, and brave people of KP for fighting terrorism for over two decades,” he added.
No political bias
During the question-and-answer portion of his briefing, the military spokesman urged the media to question the KP government on why it had not implemented the revised NAP. “The truth is that our politics has become subservient to terrorism, because the political-crime nexus is more important than welfare of the people,” he said, pointing to the proliferation of non-custom paid vehicles and smuggling.
He lamented that every time authorities sealed borders, political backers of smugglers came out in their support. “This is primarily a policing issue, it requires enhancement of CTD,” he said. He also noted that despite being aware of a large number of Afghans being involved in terrorism, certain elements described them as “brothers” and resisted efforts to repatriate them to their homeland. “Because they are part of the mafia and you use them for your political purposes,” he alleged.
Lt. Gen. Sharif also refused to confirm or deny reports of overnight airstrikes in Afghanistan that observers have said targeted the chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who is sheltering across the border. However, he said, security forces are ready to take all necessary measures to protect the lives of Pakistanis.
He also maintained that Pakistan was continuing to engage with Afghanistan to seek an end to the use of its soil against Pakistan. On the state’s past engagement with the TTP and this week’s change in the KP leadership, he said: “Who is saying today that there should be talks and not operations against them [terrorists]. Where is this voice coming from? Who is saying this? Who is that person who is carrying out this whole campaign of talk to them and stop operations. Who is [the one] saying that he cannot accept his provincial government that does not stand against operations. It is for everyone to see that today, or five years back or six or seven or eight or in any timeframe, who is that person and political thought that says there should be talks with terrorists.”
This stance, he said, was “confusing” the people and encouraging them to believe that the path to peace lay in talking to the people who slaughtered our children. The Army, police and children are paying the price for this “perverted and criminal thinking,” he added.
To a question on the court martial proceedings against former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed (ret.), he said the process was ongoing and would come to its logical and just conclusion.
He also rubbished the perception of political bias within the armed forces, saying there was no preference for any political force or individual.