Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Tuesday said operations to curb terrorists are ongoing—despite claims by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of “resisting” any attempt to stage military sorties in the province.
“Have the words of the people who say they will not permit operations more important than national security?” he questioned, emphasizing that terrorists are martyring civilians. “It is clear to us, to the state, to the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that we need to tackle militancy,” he said.
“If you do not want a military operation, then what should be done—sit at the feet of khawarij?” the DG ISPR said. “Should khawarij leader Noor Wali Mehsud be made the province’s chief minister and allegiance pledged to him?” he asked.
He maintained that seeking assurances from a group accused of harboring terrorists was illogical, reiterating that counterterrorism required firm state action rather than political ambiguity.
Addressing a press conference, he said no person or politics are greater than the state. At the outset, he said the briefing aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the counter-terrorism measures taken over the past year. Declaring 2025 a “landmark and consequential year” in the country’s fight against terrorism, he said security forces conducted an average of 206 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) daily, totaling 75,175.
A majority of the operations, he said, were conducted in Balochistan—58,778 IBOs—followed by 14,658 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 1,739 in the rest of the country. He said 5,397 terrorist incidents were reported nationwide during the year, with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa the worst affected at 3,811 incidents, or 71% of the total. Balochistan saw 1,557 incidents, 29%, while only 29 incidents were reported in other parts of Pakistan.
Over the course of 2025, he said, security forces killed 2,597 militants, including 1,803 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 784 in Balochistan. He said there were 27 suicide bombers, comprising 16 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; 10 in Balochistan and 1 in the rest of Pakistan. Two of the suicide bombers were women, he added. During the operations, he said, 1,235 soldiers were martyred.
Sharing a graph of the terror statistics, Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said 2021 marked a turning point in the terrorism landscape following the return to power of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul. He recalled the Doha Agreement had the Taliban commit to form an inclusive government, prevent the use of Afghan territory for terrorism, and protect women’s rights. None of these commitments were fulfilled, he said, emphasizing that multiple militant groups—Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—were operating from Afghanistan, posing a threat to Pakistan. The recent unrest in Syria, he said, had seen 2,500 militants move to Afghanistan, none of whom are Afghan or Pakistani.
The military spokesman noted that from 2021 to 2025, terrorism-related incidents had showed a steady and then sharp rise. In 2021, there were 761 incidents, with 193 militants killed and 592 security personnel martyred; in 2022, incidents increased to 1,020, with security forces killing 443 militants and 644 personnel martyred. The situation worsened in 2023, he said, with incidents rising to 1,811, forces killing 691 militants, and 980 personnel losing their lives.
In 2024, the incidents climbed further to 3,014, with 1,053 militants killed and 989 security personnel martyred. “The surge peaked in 2025,” he said. “Incidents jumped to 5,397, 2,597 militants were killed, and the number of martyred personnel reached its highest level at 1,235,” he added.
Noting Pakistan had repeatedly urged Kabul to end cross-border terrorism, he said Islamabad had finally conducted strikes on terrorists on the Pak-Afghan border in October. “What did the Afghan Taliban regime do, who is acting as proxies and a base of operations for Indians? They attacked Pakistani posts. They came in direct support of the terrorists,” he said. “So the state of Pakistan did what was necessary. Dozens of Afghan posts were obliterated within hours and a hard message was sent,” he added.
The subsequent border closure, he said, had led to a reduction in terror incidents. “The number of terrorists killed in the last three months after the border was closed in October rose to 276 per month. There are signs here for those who can understand,” he said.
Noting some had sought to drawn parallels between Pakistan’s actions of October and India’s of May, he said this was an attempt to spin a narrative. In May 2025, he recalled, India had targeted Pakistani citizens but Pakistan did not target Afghans in October. “We targeted our own citizens who were present there and involved in terrorism in Pakistan. They have training centers there,” he said. “Only the state of Pakistan has the right to punish or reward its citizens in accordance with the law and Constitution of Pakistan. Who is India to cause harm to any Pakistani citizen?” he questioned.
Stressing the difference between India‘s and Pakistan’s cross-border strikes, he said whoever tried to point out similarities between the two developments was trying to deceive the people, spinning a misleading narrative.
War economy
“The primary reason for this [surge in terrorism] is a politically conducive environment and the flourishing political-criminal-terror-nexus which is flourishing there,” he said.
According to the spokesman, another major reason for resurgent terrorism is the “war economy.” Citing recent reports, he said around $147 billion was spent on the reconstruction of Afghanistan and when the money stopped, groups that had sustained themselves on a war economy sought to revive it through conflict and terrorism across the region. Additionally, he said, around $7.2 billion worth of U.S. military equipment, including advanced weapons, was left in Afghanistan by U.S. forces.
He alleged that while the operational base of such groups was in Afghanistan, their funding and support came from India. He regretted that a false narrative was being promoted to suggest the fight against terrorism was the military’s alone, emphasizing this was not just the Army’s war, but a war of the people and a struggle of every child of the nation.
He warned that if the nation does not unite against terrorism, its consequences would reach homes, schools, markets, and offices, with attacks carried out in everyday spaces of public life.
The military spokesman said Fitna Al-Khawarij—a name used by the state for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—were the first to use armed quadcopters, alleging that India fully supports them. He claimed a specialized militant wing operates the armed drones to carry out terrorist attacks, adding the militants target mosques, public places and residential areas, often using women and children as human shields. He emphasized that the Pakistan Army uses drones only for surveillance purposes.
Major attacks of 2025
During the briefing, the DG ISPR played video confessions of arrested terrorists. He recalled that March 4 saw an attack on the Bannu Cantonment in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, targeting the military. The incident martyred 18 people, including five members of law enforcement agencies. Security forces killed 16 militants.
A week later, on March 11, the Jaffar Express was attacked in Bolan, targeting civilians. Twenty-five people died, including four law enforcement personnel, while 33 militants were killed. On March 16, a civilian bus carrying Frontier Corps personnel was attacked in Nushki, killing five people, including three law enforcement personnel. Security forces killed three militants.
On May 21, a school bus was attacked in Khuzdar, killing five civilians. One militant was killed in the incident. The next major attack, he said, occurred on Sept. 2, with Frontier Corps North headquarters in Bannu targeted, leaving six law enforcement personnel martyred. Five militants were killed. Then, on Sept. 30, an attack on Frontier Corps headquarters in Quetta killed 11 people—three law enforcement personnel and eight civilians—while six militants were killed.
On Oct. 10, a police training school in Dera Ismail Khan was attacked, killing seven people, including six law enforcement personnel. Five militants were slain in the incident. A month later, on Nov. 10, a cadet college in Wana was targeted, killing five people, including three law enforcement personnel. Five militants were killed in the incident. The following day, on Nov. 11, an attack on the Judicial Complex in Islamabad killed 11 civilians, while one militant was killed.
The final incident highlighted by the DG ISPR occurred on Nov. 24 in Peshawar, targeting the Frontier Corps North headquarters, killing three law enforcement personnel. Three militants were killed in the operation, he said.
During his briefing, Lt. Gen. Chaudhry specifically pointed to the PTI leadership in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as resisting counter-terrorism efforts. He reiterated allegations of “politically conducive environment” in the province facilitating the “political-criminal-terror-nexus.” To support his claims, he said Afghan refugee settlements in Punjab and Balochistan had been cleared, but continued to operate in KP.
He also pushed back against criticisms of the military’s alleged support for certain terrorist factions, emphasizing Pakistan made no distinctions among terrorists. “There is no color or shade of a terrorist for us, and we have no sympathy for any terrorist,” he said.
The spokesperson further lashed out at social media, alleging it was being utilized for terrorism and criminal activity. “Social media is being used for terrorism and for its promotion as well. Laws are meant to ensure the protection of society,” he said, questioning why social media platforms had not opened their offices in the country.