ISLAMABAD: Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Tuesday said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains the worst-affected province by terrorism due to what he described as a “political-criminal-terror nexus.” While reviewing the national security situation over the past year, he said nearly 71 percent of terrorist incidents occurred in the province.
Addressing a press conference, Lt Gen Chaudhry said a politically conducive environment had allowed criminal and terrorist networks to flourish in KP. He explained that the purpose of the media briefing was to present a comprehensive overview of counterterrorism measures undertaken during the last year.
Providing operational details, the ISPR chief said law enforcement agencies conducted 75,175 intelligence-based operations nationwide in 2025. Of these, 14,658 operations took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 58,778 in Balochistan, and 1,739 in other parts of the country. Meanwhile, authorities recorded 5,397 terrorism-related incidents across Pakistan, including 3,811 in KP, 1,557 in Balochistan, and 29 elsewhere.
Afghanistan termed the hub of regional terrorist activity
Furthermore, Lt Gen Chaudhry said security forces killed 2,597 terrorists during counterterrorism operations last year. He identified Afghanistan as the centre of terrorist activity in the region, recalling that the Afghan Taliban had pledged under the 2020 Doha agreement to prevent terrorism from Afghan soil.
However, he said Afghanistan continues to host Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan, adding that all major terrorist organisations operate and receive support there. While detailing 10 major attacks, he said terrorists deliberately targeted civilians and soft targets, with Afghan militants involved in every incident.
The ISPR DG said 21 civilians were martyred in the Jaffar Express attack, while a bus attack in Noshki and an assault on the Frontier Corps headquarters in Quetta killed eight more civilians. He added that Afghan attackers carried out the Quetta assault and a similar attack on the FC headquarters in Peshawar in November.
Referring to an attempted attack on Cadet College Wana, he said terrorists tried to replicate the 2014 APS Peshawar tragedy. He stressed that the fight against terrorism is a national war, not solely the responsibility of the armed forces.
