A map of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including part of the Paktika Province, Afghanistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, the latter of which is where a number of terrorist attacks have taken place.
“Islamabad has repeatedly demanded Kabul to take action against hideouts of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its soil.”
Pakistan continues to be at odds with the Taliban government in Afghanistan for allowing the Pakistani Taliban safe haven to carry out attacks across the border into Pakistan. On 25 December 2024, Pakistan carried out an airstrike in the Paktika Province, Afghanistan, against members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, resulting in 46 people killed, including civilians. The airstrike was in response to a cross-border attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, by the Pakistani Taliban that killed 16 members of Pakistan’s security forces a few days prior.[i] Additional clashes between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani forces have taken place since the airstrike.
The accompanying excerpted article from Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn reports on a December 2024 press conference given by Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan’s Armed Forces and provides context to Pakistan’s efforts to deal with terrorism. General Chaudhry acknowledged the dispute surrounding the Pakistani Taliban safe haven and asserted that “Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the terrorist networks and keep our citizens safe.” General Chaudry also referenced Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, launched in June 2024, in which Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif emphasized that Pakistan could strike targets in Afghanistan.[ii] Chaudhry also mentioned the high number of operations against terrorists that Pakistan carried out in 2024—a particularly deadly year for Pakistani security forces in the country’s fight against terrorism.[iii]
In addition to internal political pressure to combat terrorism,[iv] Pakistan is also under pressure from China to deal with terrorist groups. Attacks on Chinese nationals working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor infrastructure projects have escalated in recent years. These projects and Chinese support are vital to Pakistan’s economy. As Pakistan remains under pressure to combat terrorism, additional strikes or clashes by Pakistan against targets in Afghanistan are likely but may come with a cost of fueling a wider conflict with Afghanistan.
Sources:
“Banned outfits provided with sanctuaries, support on Afghan territory: ISPR,” Dawn (independent English-language newspaper in Pakistan), 27 December 2024.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1881429
The press conference took place amid heightened security concerns, with a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces and other law enforcement agencies, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa…
During the wide-ranging press conference today in Rawalpindi, the DG ISPR addressed counterterrorism efforts, Pakistan’s reservations with Afghanistan…“All evidence related to terrorism can be traced back to the safe havens enjoyed by terrorists in Afghanistan,” Gen Chaudhry said….“Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the terrorist networks and keep our citizens safe.”
Islamabad has repeatedly demanded Kabul to take action against hideouts of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its soil…
Gen Chaudhry said security forces conducted a total of 59,775 operations this year, noting that Pakistan has rendered a lot of sacrifices in its fight against terrorism.
“During these successful operations, 925 terrorists, including khawarij, were sent to hell while numerous were arrested,” he said, highlighting that the number of terrorists killed was the largest in the last five years…
Answering a query on the effectiveness of intelligence-based operations (IBOs), Gen Chaudhry responded: “In the war against terrorism, there is a fundamental thing that the army and the LEAs fight against the terrorist [but] the nation fights against terrorism. All segments and political parties agree on this point.”
Referring to the National Action Plan (NAP) of 2014, its revised version from 2021, and the Azm-i-Istehkam campaign, the ISPR DG stressed that it had been decided that the entire nation had to combat terrorism together with all state institutions…
Speaking on action taken against terrorism in Balochistan, the DG ISPR detailed that some high-value targets were eliminated in the region.
He said that “Baloch terrorists’ most-wanted leaders Sana urf Baro, Bashir urf Pir Jan, Niaz urf Gumman, Zareef Shah Jehan, Hazrat Ali urf Asad, Lak Jan Chakirabadi urf Sawara were also sent to hell”…
Notes:
[i] For more information on the airstrike, see: Mohammad Yunus Yawar, “Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan kill 46 people, Taliban official says,” Reuters (international news agency), 26 December 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/least-46-killed-pakistani-bombardment-afghanistan-afghan-taliban-spokesperson-2024-12-25/
[ii] For more background on Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, see: “Azm-e-Istehkam operation: Terrorist hideouts may be hit on Afghan soil, says minister,” The News International (English-language newspaper in Pakistan), 28 June 2024. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1204305-azm-e-istehkam-operation-terrorist-hideouts-may-be-hit-on-afghan-soil-minister
[iii] The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), an independent think-tank based in Pakistan, published a study which noted that 2024 marked the largest number of casualties that Pakistan’s security forces sustained combating terrorists in a decade. Pakistan has been fighting not only the Pakistani Taliban, but also the Balochistan Liberation Army, a group that seeks to gain the independence of the Balochistan Province, in western Pakistan. For the full CRSS report, see: https://crss.pk/2024-marks-deadliest-year-for-pakistans-security-forces-record-high-fatalities-in-a-decade/
[iv] Terrorist attacks by the Pakistani Taliban and the Balochistan Liberation Army against civilian and military targets in Pakistan rose considerably in 2024 compared prior years, forcing the government of Pakistan to increase its response. The Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an NGO in Pakistan, published a report documenting the rise in the number of attacks in the country in 2024, see: https://www.pakpips.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Overview_PIPS-Security-Report-2024.pdf
Image Information:
Image: A map of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including part of the Paktika Province, Afghanistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, the latter of which is where a number of terrorist attacks have taken place.
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Afghanistan-Pakistan_-_northern_border._LOC_2010594050.jpg
Attribution: Public Domain