Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Tuesday that Afghans were involved in major “high-impact” terror incidents in Pakistan in 2025.
At the outset of the press conference, the military’s spokesperson said that the purpose of the briefing was to give a comprehensive overview of counter-terrorism measures taken in the past year.
This “is the only purpose of this press conference, and I would request that we remain focused on counterterrorism as terrorism is the biggest threat that is being faced by the state of Pakistan right now,” he added.
The DG ISPR said 2025 was a “landmark and consequential year in our fight against terrorism”, adding there were four reasons behind this conclusion.
Saying that the fight against terrorism was the entire nation’s and was being fought for more than two decades, the DG ISPR further stated that the past year witnessed “unprecedented intensity in counter-terrorism efforts”.
In 2025, he continued, the state of Pakistan, as well as the people, gained “complete clarity on terrorism”.
“The state already had this clarity, which permeated slowly and gradually down[ward] that these terrorists are khawarij [and] they have no relation with Islam. They are Fitna-al-Hindustan and have no relation with Pakistan or [the people of] Balochistan,” he elaborated.
Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state has designated for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and it uses Fitna-al-Hindustan for Balochistan-based terrorist groups to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.
Lieutenant General Chaudhry further highlighted that in 2025, the world accepted and acknowledged Pakistan’s stance and narrative regarding terrorism, particularly about Afghanistan having become a “base of terrorism” operations.
Moreover, he said the last year also saw “how the National Action Plan (NAP) was reinvigorated and how it was being implemented”.
In this connection, he also mentioned that the vision for Azm-i-Istehkam — a counter-terrorism operation that was launched by the military in 2024 — had also been drawn from the revised NAP, and that all political parties and segments of society had reached a consensus that the implementation of the NAP was necessary to eliminate terrorism.
But “there are still deficiencies, and there is a lot of room for improvement” in the implementation of NAP, he acknowledged.
After outlining these four factors as the reasons behind the declaration of 2025 as a “landmark and consequential year” in terms of counter-terrorism, the DG ISPR went on to speak about them in detail.
.A screengrab from the presentation played at the DG ISPR’s press conference on January 6.
He began with sharing data, according to which, law enforcement agencies of Pakistan — including the army, police, Federal Constabulary and intelligence agencies — conducted a total of 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBO) in 2025.
“Which comes down to 206 IBOs per day,” he said. Giving a breakdown, he said that of these operations, 14,658 were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 58,778 in Balochistan and 1,739 in the rest of Pakistan.
He added that 5,397 terror incidents took place in Pakistan during the last year, of which 3,811 were reported from KP (71pc), 1,557 from Balochistan (29pc) and 29 from other areas.
Moreover, 2,597 terrorists were killed in Pakistan in 2025, the DG ISPR said. Among them, 1,800 were killed in KP, 784 in Balochistan and 10 in other areas.
Last year, he continued, 1,235 law enforcement personnel and civilians were martyred in the fight against terrorism during 2025.
Sharing data about incidents of suicide bombing, he said a total of 27 had taken place in 2025. Of them, 16 took place in KP, 10 in Balochistan and one in Islamabad, at the judicial complex.
“Out of them, two [involved] female suicide bombers.”
In light of these facts and figures, he said, the question that came to mind was why the majority of terror incidents took place in KP.
“The primary reason for this is the politically conducive environnment that is being provided [to terrorists] there, and the political-terror nexus that is flourishing there,” he said.
The DG ISPR highlighted that data show that terrorism began rising from 2021. And a total of 193 terrorists were killed in comparison to 592 law enforcement personnel being martyred that year, he said, adding that it was a ratio of 1:3.
Moving to 2025, he pointed out that 2,597 terrorists were killed during last year and 1,235 law enforcement personnel were martyred. This would reduce to a ratio of 2:1, he added.
“But, more importantly, what happened in 2021 that terrorism rose?” he questioned, and went on to elaborate on the reason behind this development.
The DG ISPR explained that there was a change in Afghanistan in 2021 following the Doha Agreement.
“An armed group, the Afghan Taliban, sat down with the US and international partners and enter an agreement. Under the agreement, they made three commitments — that they will form an inclusive government in Afghanistan, use of Afghan soil for terrorism will not be allowed and women will be given rights [in Afghanistan],” the DG ISPR recalled.
But were the commitments fulfilled, the military spokesperson questioned.
“They were not. Is there a government there? There is no government there. They [just] call themselves interim Afghan government […] Is there an inclusive government there? No, there is not.
“Has terrorism been eradicated [from Afghanistan]? Contrarily, Afghanistan becomes a hub of terrorists and non-state actors. Terrorists of different creeds operate from there. So that is what started happening in 2021.”
Naming various terror outfits that the DG ISPR said were operating from Afghanistan, he said it had become a “centre point where terrorists of all kinds are being nurtured”.
He said recently, around 2,500 terrorists, who were neither Afghans nor Pakistanis, had reached Afghanistan from Syria.
The military spokesperson also said that the Afghan Taliban, “which is now the mother organisation” had started organising the TTP as per its organisational structure. They also trained and gave direction to the terror outfit, the DG ISPR.
Moreover, Afghan Taliban built a “fake” narrative, boasting that they forced the US and international coalition forces to flee Afghanistan.
“On the basis of that, they start further polluting the minds of youngsters, the youth, religious-minded people. They present themselves as the flag-bearers of Islam and increase their recruitment.
“But if you analyse the matter, you will realise that they did not make them [coalition forces and the US] flee. There were other reasons for it.”
The DG ISPR also spoke about war economy in this regard. He referred to a recent report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which he said mentioned that around $144 billion were pumped into the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
“When the [supply of] that money stopped, in order to continue to run the war economy, they [Afghan Taliban] spread the war in the form of terrorism in the entire region. And they find new patrons, new financial sponsors. And the biggest patron they find for terrorism in Pakistan is India.”
The DG ISPR said India was using the Afghan Taliban as proxies and was providing them with financial and other assistance.
“So the base of operations is being provided in Afghanistan by Afghan Taliban and India’s money and patronage [is available].”
He added that Afghan Taliban were taking the assistance of sponsors from elsewhere too — wherever they were able to find them — to run the war economy.
The military spokesperson further said that modern US equipment worth $7.2bn was left behind in Afghanistan. It included night-vision devices, long-range sniper rifles, bulletproof jackets, protection equipment, M-4 and M-16 — “the best of weapons and ammunition”.
This equipment was “available to the Afghan Taliban, in the black market, to all these terrorist organisations”.
Moreover, the political party in power in Pakistan in 2021 began “internally facilitating [terrorists]” and decided to hold talks with them while a “great game was being played there (Afghanistan)“.
This seemingly was a reference to talks held between the then-Pakistan government and the TTP.
The DG ISPR went on to say that “once you give them (terrorists) so much space and so much wherewithal, you see a [rise] in terror incidents”.
“Come 2023, that state starts standing against them.”
He referred to a speech by the army chief following a blast in a mosque in Police Lines in Peshawar in 2023, adding that on that occasion, the army chief gave clarity on terrorism. “Entire Pakistan has that clarity now”.
Further elaborating on this “clarity”, he used harsh language, stating that terrorists had no religious association, they had to be eliminated and action had to be taken against them.
“But it takes time. Because if you have to fight them, you have to equip yourself, you have to train yourself, you have to adopt the right technology, you have to build that narrative, you have to take along the nation.
“You saw this last year, which I said was a consequential and landmark year, when the tide started turning.”
The military’s spokesperson acknowledged that questions were also raised on the large number of terror incidents — 5,397 in 2025.
“Yes, this is a big number. Why? Because we are engaging them everywhere. We are doing 75,000 IBOs, 206 every day, and we are taking them on.
“By we, I mean myself, you and everyone in Pakistan. We have absolute clarity that we have to win this fight, not by appeasement, but by force and strength. Because there are a few things in life fighting for which is not just justified but also necessary, and there is no option other than that.”
He said when terrorism had reared its head in other countries, it had destroyed states. “But your state, your law enforcement agencies and your army are fighting on a daily basis.”
Referring to a chart, he said it could be deduced from the data that after Pakistan defeated India during a four-day conflict in May 2025, a surge was seen in terrorism. After its defeat, “Indians immediately put in efforts into non-state actors”.
The base of operations of those incidents was Afghanistan, he said, adding that Pakistan repeatedly urged Kabul to end cross-border terrorism.
“And then we carry out strikes on terrorists on Pak-Afghan border in October, not on the Afghan Taliban or their posts. And what did the Afghan Taliban regime do, who is acting as proxies and a base of operations for Indians? They attacked Pakistani posts. They come in direct support of the terrorists.
“So the State of Pakistan did what was necessary. Dozens of Afghan posts were obliterated within hours and a hard message was sent.”
The DG ISPR said posts were not just obliterated at the border but also inside Afghanistan.
The border was closed after that and then you saw terror incidents and facilitation of terrorists going down, he added.
“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 parallels had been drawn Pakistan‘s actions in October last year and India’s in May 2025.
He said those drawing the parallel trying to spin a narrative.
In May 2025, India targeted Pakistan 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 centres there.
“We knew TTP was present there. Did we target TTA (Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan)? No, we did not.
“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 again asserted that in October strikes, Pakistan’s military targeted the TTP.
The DG ISPR said Pakistan had been pressing the Afghan Taliban for the constitution of a verifiable mechanism, adding that Pakistan had evidence of where and to whom the Afghan Taliban had been providing refuge.
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 lying.
They were trying to deceive the people, spinning a misleading narrative, the DG ISPR said.
Listing 10 “major” incidents of terrorism in Pakistan in 2025.
“And who are involved in all of these high-impact [terror incidents]? They are all Afghanis.”
The DG ISPR said all 78 terrorists involved in the 10 major incidents were killed. “None of them goes back alive, and 60 civilians were martyred in those incidents. So the narrative they create that it is the military’s fight [is false]. This is the fight of the people. […] If we and you would not stand up against them, they will blow themselves in your homes, markets, offices, schools and streets, until you adopt their perverted ideology.”
After playing “confessional statements by some terrorists”, he said that 16 of the terrorists killed in 2025 could be clearly identified as high-value targets. They included Amjad Ali, who was the second-in-command in the shura of the TTP.
He then asked his audience to rise from their seats, and those in uniform to salute, to pay tribute to the “martyrs”, including the people of Pakistan and personnel of police, armed forces and the Federal Constabulary, who had lost their lives in terror incidents.
Following that, the DG ISPR said there were three main pillars of the fight against terrorism.
Essentially, it was intelligence-based, he said, but there were three main pillars of its final manifestation on the ground.
The first among these pillars was the engagements on the Pak-Afghan border, the second was small-team offensive actions and the third was the technical surveillance and engagements, he explained. “These are the three pillars that are based on intelligence.”
Speaking about technical surveillance and engagement, he said a narrative was created that Pakistan’s military was using drones.
But in fact, it was the terrorists that began using those armed quadcopters, he said, adding that 405 quadcopters attacks by the terrorists were reported from KP alone.
“Their patron — India — provides them with funds, technical inventory and other assistance. So they have now started going into this armed quadcopter business. They also have a special wing for quadcopters in their organisations.
“They also use mosques, public places and houses, as human shields.”
He explained that law enforcement bodies, including police and armed forces, were using drones only for technical surveillance.
The military’s spokesperson mentioned that even the KP government had provided law enforcement bodies with quadcopters as terrorists had been using it.
He added that law enforcement bodies did not use quadcopters in any built-up or populated area and ensured that there was no collateral damage.
“It is important to brief you on this as a false narrative is being spun regarding this,” he remarked. “We use it with care, and your army does not cause any collateral damage. We hit only terrorists and their facilitators.”
He said the army was not only engaged in kinetic action when it came to countering terrorism. It was also taking measures pertaining to “communication, engagement and social maneouvre“, he said.
“In our view, this is even more important than killing the terrorists,” he said as videos of the military’s engagement with the public played in the background. “And the narrative they create that there is a law and order situation, there is gap between the public and the state — absolutely not.
“I say with great pride that Pakistan’s people and the state are together.”
He said the people of Pakistan now had clarity on what were Fitna-al-Khawarij and Fitna-al-Hindustan, on the India-Afghan Taliban terrorism nexus, on the other external sponsors of terrorism, on the international acknowledgement and acceptance of Pakistan’s stance on terrorism and on internal facilitators — most of whom were found in politics — of terrorism.
Speaking about the India-Afghan Taliban nexus, he also played varius clips of the Indian media as a portrayal of the “collusion”.
In this connection, he also mentioned those who “promoted terrorism under the guise of human rights and democracy”. Here, he specifically gave the example of a professor of the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, who the DG ISPR said had confessed to involvement in terrorism.
The military’s spokesperson said the professor was defended by people in Pakistan and abroad, and showed social media posts by various users, including freelance journalist Kiyya Baloch, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and human rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Haazir.
More to follow
