Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Corps Headquarters, the DG ISPR said that Pakistan’s armed forces remain fully committed to eradicating terrorism. He stated that every citizen and institution must play a role in uprooting the menace that has taken countless innocent lives.

General Chaudhry accused India of using Afghanistan as a base for launching terrorism against Pakistan. He warned that such hostile actions are part of a larger strategy to destabilize the region, but assured that Pakistan’s defense forces are well-prepared to counter these threats.

The military spokesperson further noted that the rise in terrorism was due to the government’s failure to implement the National Action Plan in its true spirit. He said, “Politics was played on this issue, and the nation was misled.”

He also alleged that a “political-criminal nexus” was behind the recent terrorist activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, vowing that no one would be allowed to trade the lives and safety of the people for personal or political gains.

Instead of “begging Afghanistan” for security, he said, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should rather work on protecting the people of the province.

He said that governance gaps in KP were being paid for by the blood of security personnel.

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He maintained that appeasement of terrorists and their facilitators is never and not a policy. He noted that the state and its institutions would not be bothered by “any political distortions”.

“The state and its people will not and cannot be left to the whims of any single person who is singularly the most responsible person for bringing terrorism back to KP.”

The DG ISPR added that he hoped the government would focus on governance and the people it was duty-bound to protect. “We also hope that instead of begging Afghanistan for security, you will protect this province and its people.”

Earlier, he paid homage on behalf of the armed forces of Pakistan to the “brave sons of soil” of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The press conference was aimed to give an overview of the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said. For the past two decades, Pakistan, particularly KP, has been facing the issue of terrorism, he said.

He detailed that In 2024, 14,535 intelligence-based operations were conducted in KP, 769 terrorists, including 58 Afghan terrorists, were killed and 272 army and FC personnel and 140 policemen were martyred while 165 civilians were killed.

In addition, 10,115 operations were conducted in 2025 until September 15. In these operations, 970 terrorists were killed while 311 Pakistan army personnel were martyred, he added.

The DG ISPR said while terrorism incidents had started increasing 2021 onwards, “the response also went up. And more number of kharijis were killed in subsequent years.”

Following the 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, security forces had started uprooting terrorism as part of a comprehensive strategy, he said.

He said first reason was not fully implementing the National Action Plan, followed by politicising the issue of terrorism, India using Afghanistan as a “base of operation for terrorism” in Pakistan, the provision of modern weapons to terrorists in Afghanistan and the existence of a “terrorism-crime nexus” that had “complete local and political backing”.

He mentioned as a reason for the rise in terrorism, it had been decided to “break the terror-crime nexus” in order to eradicate terrorism. Moreover, he said, it had also been decided to “strengthen the judiciary” with regard to counter-terrorism cases.

He said that no one was convicted, while 34 cases were pending. “This is the judicial system that was to be strengthened. The political government of the time decided it, we did not.”

The DG ISPR further stated that the decision had been made to strengthen KP police. Noting that the provincial police was currently 3,200-personnel strong, he asked: “ The terrorism (situation) is before you all. Is this [number] enough?“

The DG ISPR said Afghanistan is being used as a base of operations for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan. “There is also evidence of this. And I have also said that all the necessary steps for protecting the people’s lives and property are being taken and will continue to be taken,” he noted.