ISLAMABAD (Urdu Times) Pakistan Army renews its resolve to uproot terrorism

ISLAMABAD (Urdu Times) The Pakistan Army has once again renewed its resolve to uproot terrorism, Pakistan Army Public Relations Department, ISPR Chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry says that terrorists and their facilitators were given space in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under a well-thought-out plan, governance and public welfare were deliberately weakened here, the consequences of which are still being suffered by the brave and courageous people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with their blood, due to the establishment of governance in Sindh and Punjab, there is no terrorism. Speaking at Corps Headquarters Peshawar, he said that the purpose of the press conference is to review the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

At the beginning, he paid tribute to the sacrifices of the brave people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the war against terrorism. During 2025, 10,115 intelligence-based operations have been conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until September 15, which is 40 per day, in which 917 terrorists have been killed, which is a daily rate of 3.5. This year, 516 precious lives were sacrificed during operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including 311 officers and men of the Pakistan Army, 73 police personnel and 132 innocent civilians. If we compare the number of foreigners who died in operations in the last 10 years, the number of foreigners killed in one year is the highest compared to the number of foreigners killed in the last 10 years. Similarly, the number of foreigners killed last year was more than the total number of the last 9 years. After the 2016 Army Public School tragedy, intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies started uprooting terrorism and came close to fulfilling the dream of a peaceful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that we all have come to uproot the scourge of terrorism together with the brave people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We have come to renew the resolve of the Pakistani armed forces, we renew the resolve to uproot terrorism. In the province While presenting an overview of the counter-terrorism operation, he said that 14,535 operations have been conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2024 on intelligence information, the number of intelligence-based operations conducted on a daily basis is 40. During the operation in 2024, 769 terrorists were killed, which is 2.1 per day. During these operations, 577 precious lives were sacrificed, including 272 brave officers and soldiers of the Pakistan Army, 140 police personnel, and 165 innocent Pakistani citizens. He said that unfortunately, under a well-thought-out plan, space was given to terrorists and their facilitators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, governance and public welfare were deliberately weakened here, the consequences of which are still being borne by the brave and courageous people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through their blood and sacrifices. The Pakistan Army spokesperson said that it is important to know the factors due to which terrorism exists today, he also mentioned 5 basic reasons for the failure of terrorism to end.

Not implementing the National Action Plan.

Doing politics on the issue of terrorism and confusing the nation in this politics.

India using Afghanistan as a base camp for terrorism.

Availability of modern weapons and sanctuaries to terrorists in Afghanistan.

Nexus of terrorists and criminal elements with local and political backing.

He said that in 2024 and 2025 alone, the number of Afghans who were sent to hell in Pakistan is 161, in addition to this, 135 foreigners were killed while infiltrating from the Afghan border, while 30 attackers who carried out suicide attacks in 2 years were Afghan citizens, these figures reveal Afghanistan as a base camp for India’s terrorism. The nexus of terrorists and criminal elements has full local and political backing. The Pakistan Army spokesperson further said that after the APS tragedy in 2014, all political parties, federal and provincial governments sat in Peshawar and prepared a unified plan of action, which was named the National Action Plan. All political parties agreed that if terrorism is to be eradicated, then these points have to be worked on. In 2021, a revised National Action Plan consisting of 14 points was prepared by removing the points that had been worked on during the previous provincial government. All political leaders, all political parties and the then provincial and federal governments decided that if terrorism is to be eradicated, then these 14 points have to be worked on. The current government also named the same action plan Vision, Commitment, Stability. He said that the primary reason for terrorism is that these points are not being implemented. The first point of the action plan is to kill terrorists, this is the only point related to ground operations, is it being worked on or not, are the security agencies conducting more than 40 intelligence-based operations daily in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone or not, have we not brought more than 900 terrorists to justice this year? Aren’t our martyrs testifying that the first point is being worked on and is being done at all. The remaining 13 points should also be covered to see what work is being done on them, the second point was that the media, social media and politicians will stand united against terrorism, all political leaders and political parties have agreed on this since 2014, are we standing on this narrative?Pakistan Army spokesperson asked, “Don’t you hear the call to hold talks with terrorists? Are we implementing this National Action Plan? Is the solution to every problem through talks? If the solution to every problem lies in talks, then when India fired missiles at Pakistan on May 6 and 7, martyring innocent children, women, madrassas and mosques, why didn’t the people of this country say that they would hold talks the next day?” If every problem was resolved through talks, there would have been no invasion, no wars or campaigns. If the solution to the problem was through talks, then remember the Battle of Badr. Why didn’t the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), for whom two worlds were created, the caste above which there is no human being, talk on that day? Meanwhile, son stood before father, brother before brother, Qureshi before Qureshi and Umayyad before Umayyad, why didn’t they hold talks? DG ISPR said that your elders had decided that we will create a narrative, but a misleading narrative is created. Not us, but our politicians, all the provincial governments said that if terrorism is to be eliminated, the nexus of terrorism and crime has to be broken, and our region has to be cleansed of the scourge of illegal businesses, drugs, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and non-customs paid vehicles. When law enforcement agencies take action against these scourges, voices come from different political and local levels to support these elements. You had decided that terrorism cannot be eliminated without eliminating it. The Pakistan Army spokesperson said that the politicians and political governments of this country decided to strengthen their judicial system for terrorism cases, but where do we stand now that in August 2025, no terrorist was convicted by the anti-terrorism courts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 34 cases are pending, 2878 pending cases have been pending for less than 3 years, while 1706 cases have been pending for more than 3 years. The profession of terrorism is a nexus of illegal business, out of 10,087 drug cases, only 679 criminals were convicted, while in 33,389 illegal weapons cases, only 6,945 criminals were convicted, he said, this is the situation of the judicial campaign against terrorism. The DG ISPR said that in 2014 and 2021, it was decided that if terrorism is to be eliminated in the province, then the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has to be strengthened, but at present the operational capacity of CTD Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 3200, terrorism is in front of you, is this number enough? We salute the brave police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and CTD, but its number is only 3200.

The National Action Plan had decided to register madrassas, but so far, we have registered 4,355 madrassas in the province, approximately 55 percent. The registration has not been completed yet, so unifying the curriculum and monitoring it is a different matter. If the question is why terrorism is not ending, then answer these questions as well. In 2014 and then in 2021, it was decided to send Afghans back. So where did this narrative come from today that they should not be sent back? He raised the question of whether you were wrong in 2014 and 2021, and when peace has come to Afghanistan and there are no occupying forces there, then the state that has been hospitable to Afghan brothers for decades asks them to go back, then politics is done on it, narratives are made on it and misleading things are said. The Pakistan Army spokesperson said that the Doha Agreement said that Afghan soil will not be used against anyone not only in the US but also in the region, but we have put in front of you the figures of how many Afghans join the formations, how many we have eliminated and how many Afghans are involved in suicide attacks. So how is it that Afghan soil is not being used as a base camp for Khawarij and terrorists? When America left Afghanistan, the weapons it left behind went to the Khawarij in large numbers. America’s own report of 2024 says that the US army left weapons worth $7.2 billion in Afghanistan. The Pakistan Army spokesperson also showed pictures of American weapons recovered from foreigners killed during operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that 3,984 incidents of terrorism occurred in the last 3 months, why did 70 percent of them occur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? This is a very logical question, which is also asked by the youth and social media, why are these incidents of terrorism not seen in Punjab and Sindh? The main reason for the absence of terrorism in Sindh and Punjab is not that terrorists do not want to work in these provinces and do not want to promote their ideologies there, no, this is not the reason at all. The reason for this is that governance is established in these provinces, the police and law enforcement agencies are established there and the nexus of politics and terrorism is not working there. This is the only reason, while in this great province of ours, instead of eliminating terrorism through efficiency, governance and law enforcement, it is being given the color of provincialism and politics is being done on it. He asked whether this is not a criminal act in itself? That instead of increasing governance, efficiency, capacity and efficiency and CTD and strengthening the judicial system and sending illegal Afghans back to Afghanistan, confusion and ambiguity should be created.Based on these reasons, the Army Chief has clearly said that the governance vacuum is being filled by the officers, soldiers, police officers and soldiers, children and our institutions with their blood, the government vacuum is being filled by the people of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with their blood every day. The Pakistan Army spokesperson asked that if the governance vacuum is not filled and the agreed National Action Plan is not implemented, then how will Khyber Pakhtunkhwa get rid of the scourge of terrorism? The false, fictitious and fabricated narrative that is being made regarding the counter-terrorism operations of the state of Pakistan and the mockery of the martyrs and sacrifices of the Pakistani army and police, reflects the sinister intentions of the political and criminal nexus. This political and criminal nexus is behind terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We want to make it clear that the security of the Pakistani people cannot be mortgaged to any other country, especially Afghanistan. Only the state, the Pakistani armed forces and its law enforcement agencies are the guarantors of the security of the people of Pakistan. The Pakistan Army spokesperson clarified that the Pakistani army and its institutions cannot be disturbed by any political maneuvering, the state of Pakistan and its people cannot be sacrificed to the wishes of a single individual, that individual alone brought terrorism back to Pakistan and especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with extreme irresponsibility. No individual can be allowed to trade the lives, property and honor of the proud and honorable people of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for his own interests and interests. The Pakistani Armed Forces are performing internal security duties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in accordance with the constitution and law, the primary responsibility of which lies with the provincial and local administration. We hope that instead of engaging in negative politics, accusations and facilitating the foreign criminal mafia, you will focus on this primary responsibility of yours. We also hope that instead of begging Afghanistan for security to protect the proud people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, you will protect it yourself, being the responsible people of this province, which is not only the right of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also your duty. The spokesperson said that the Pakistani military also wants to make it clear that foreign terrorists and their facilitators, whoever they are and whatever position they hold, will be given a narrow path because the Pakistani nation is standing against terrorists and their facilitators like a leaden wall, and God willing, it will continue to stand, and the blood of our martyrs will never go in vain. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that we also want to make it clear that the status quo will not work now, the person or group that is facilitating foreigners due to their compulsion or any benefit has 3 options. 1. First, they should hand over these foreigners to the state. 2. Or they should join hands with the state institutions in anti-terrorism operations to end this scourge so that innocent people are not harmed. 3. Stating the third option, he warned that if these two do not work, then be ready for full action by the state of Pakistan while being the facilitators of foreigners. The spokesperson of the Pakistan Army, while showing the pictures of the martyrs of the province, said in a hoarse voice that these are the brave men of this land who have given their lives for you, no one can be allowed to play politics on their martyrdom and sacrifices, he said that Pakistan will live long and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will live long, no one can change this fact. DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in response to a question regarding the use of American weapons left in Afghanistan by terrorists, said that it is not necessary that these weapons and equipment will be used only by Fitnatul Khawarij and Fitnatul Hindustan, these equipment and weapons can be used anywhere. He said that the US government itself is also concerned and statements by US President Donald Trump have also been reported in which he says that these weapons and equipment will be withdrawn. It is the job of the Afghan government to decide whether it wants to continue sponsoring non-state actors or not. Our job is to convey our message to them and we are working on it verbally and practically. We are very clear on how we have to deal with them (terrorists). In response to a question regarding the National Action Plan, the DG ISPR said that we all know how things will change. Things will change when we have unity and we implement the National Action Plan. We have said many times that the entire nation has to fight terrorists. Those who play political games should be arrested and asked why they are playing with our lives, honor and property and why they are supporting the narrative of terrorism. The DG ISPR said in response to a question that terrorism will end in such a way that we consider the terrorist and his facilitator as equals. The one who is facilitating terrorists and keeps weapons in his house, then what is the difference between him and a terrorist? The one who is facilitating terrorists has three choices. The first is to hand over the terrorist to the state himself. If he does not want to do this or cannot do this, then he should join the state and together eliminate this scourge because his life has also been ruined by this terrorist. And if he does not want to do this either, then he is a facilitator. There is no collateral damage here, but rather it is the terrorist and his facilitators. In response to a question, the DG ISPR said that the political government sometimes says that the problem will be solved through talks and sometimes it says that the problem will be solved by bowing down to Kabul, so this is a very small part of their narrative, it is very easy for the government to increase the status of the facilitator of the terrorists who was killed by giving money to the family members of this facilitator. He said that why don’t you talk about governance and corruption, because every moment their narrative is based only on security issues, the rest of the provinces are giving one percent of NFC for the fight against terrorism, where is it going if it is not being given from here (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), development projects are not being worked on, work should have been done for the people, why didn’t it happen, here corruption of Rs 40 billion came out of a medium-level contractor in a backward district, you did not raise questions on this so that the narrative on terrorism is kept in this confusion. DG ISPR said that no one will tell you that terrorists and smugglers are being brought across the border by engaging our army from the other side on the long border with Afghanistan. They have mastered the art of creating a narrative based on lies and confusion, and social media is widely used for this. The people of Pakistan need to speak the truth with honesty. Because Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been suffering the consequences of this negative politics, this misleading narrative for decades. Therefore, we all have to stand united against this negative propaganda, and distance ourselves from politics full of lies and filth, and we have no other choice but to do this. DG ISPR, in response to a question, said that as long as terrorism continues to be supported through political and criminal nexus, our soldiers will continue to be martyred, and this process will continue until the people of Pakistan question them by putting their misleading political propaganda in front of them, until you fully implement these fourteen points of the National Action Plan, this process will continue until we realize that we ourselves are the guarantors of Pakistan’s security. Responding to a question regarding the killing of Noor Wali Mehsud in Afghanistan, DG ISPR said that Afghanistan is being used as an operation base to carry out terrorism against Pakistan, there is evidence of this. Necessary steps to protect the lives and property of the people of Pakistan will be taken and will continue to be taken. DG ISPR, in response to a question, said that our war against terrorism will continue without any political hindrance, this is a war of our survival. He said that those who are not willing to implement the fourteen points of the National Action Plan have their own personal, financial and political benefits. Our soldiers and officers do not take bullets for any personal or financial benefit but for Pakistan. If we have to live as a free, proud and self-reliant nation, then there is only one choice and that is that we have to fight the terrorists, these Khawarij and their facilitators and eliminate this scourge. We are an institution of the state and all political parties and all political leaders are respectable to us, but if any party or any person thinks that its politics is bigger than this state, then this is not acceptable to us. According to the Constitution of Pakistan, there is democracy in the country, and for us it is a very respectable system, and in this lies the future of Pakistan. It is from within this democratic system that the country has to improve itself and move forward. As a state institution, we say that we should not be used for our own politics. We give our lives for the state and the people. We do not fight anyone’s politics.