(By Quratulain Khalid)
Peshawar, October 10, 2025 — At a forceful press briefing from Peshawar Corps Headquarters, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry issued a blunt diagnosis and an urgent prescription: Pakistan faces a renewing wave of terrorism driven as much by domestic governance failures as by sanctuaries across the border in Afghanistan. He framed the surge as a national emergency that demands immediate, united political will to fully implement the National Action Plan (NAP), close governance gaps, and deprive militants of safe havens and illicit funding.
The Numbers: High Tempo, High Cost
Lt-Gen Chaudhry presented detailed operational data to support his charge. He said security forces carried out tens of thousands of intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across the country this year, with the heaviest burden falling on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He reported thousands of IBOs in 2024 and 2025 that resulted in the neutralization of many militants — but also a heavy toll in military, police, and civilian lives. These statistics, he insisted, prove that the armed forces responded vigorously, yet they also expose structural weaknesses that enabled militancy to return after 2021.
NAP: Consensus, Neglect, and the Need for Full Enforcement
Central to the DG’s argument stood the National Action Plan — the 14-point framework Pakistan adopted after the Army Public School attack. Lt-Gen Chaudhry applauded the robustness of kinetic efforts (the first NAP pillar) but sharply criticized political and institutional neglect of the remaining measures: cutting terror financing, regulating seminaries, empowering counter-terrorism departments, and reforming courts. He warned that a 2021 revision weakened key provisions and allowed militant networks and a political-criminal nexus to grow. “Terrorism exists today because we are not following the National Action Plan,” he said, and he demanded a return to full implementation under what he called “Vision Istehkam.”
The Political-Criminal Nexus and Governance Vacuum
The DG accused elements inside KP of enabling militants by protecting smuggling routes for narcotics, non-dutiable vehicles, and illegal arms—activities that fund violence and erode state authority. He condemned political resistance to hard security measures—such as sealing parts of the Pak-Afghan border or repatriating refugees—as driven, he said, by vested interests rather than humanitarian principles. Without naming names, he singled out a political logic that prioritizes narrow advantage over public safety, arguing the country can no longer tolerate governance that lets extremists fill the resulting vacuum.
Afghanistan’s Role and Cross-Border Threats
Lt-Gen Chaudhry warned that militant leadership and sanctuaries remain on Afghan soil, pointing to TTP figures the military has tracked and to vast caches of abandoned foreign weapons that militants now exploit. He said Pakistan pursues a dual approach—diplomacy with Kabul and multilateral engagement with regional partners—while keeping the option of firmer measures if attacks continue. On specific reports of a Kabul explosion targeting militant leaders, he declined to confirm covert action but stressed Pakistan would protect its people by all necessary means.
Diplomacy, Alliances, and Regional Messaging
The DG reported active diplomatic exchanges with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, Türkiye, and others to build regional pressure against sanctuaries and facilitators. He argued those partners recognize that the permissive space for non-state actors in Afghanistan threatens broader regional stability—and warned that groups such as TTP, IS-K, and the BLA could turn against their hosts if unchecked.
Accountability at Home: Courts, Institutions, and the Faiz Hameed Proceeding
Addressing internal accountability, Lt-Gen Chaudhry confirmed the court-martial proceedings against former ISI chief Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed remain underway and will proceed methodically, guided by evidence and full defence rights. He cautioned against politicizing military-civil relations and urged institutions to resist turning them into personal or partisan contests—an approach he said risks weakening state capacity.
A Simple, Stern Choice: Enforce NAP or Endure Instability
The press conference boiled down to an urgent binary: enforce the full National Action Plan and reform governance, or watch militancy and criminal networks keep feeding violence and eroding state writ. Lt-Gen Chaudhry pointed to alarming judicial gaps—thousands of counter-terrorism cases with few convictions in KP—and said that without reforms to courts and prosecutions, operations will have little lasting effect. He demanded a unified political narrative and decisive action across parties, institutions, media, and civil society.
Independent Assessment: Resolve, Reform, and Relentless Unity
Lt-Gen Chaudhry’s presser delivered a fact-heavy, unequivocal message that Pakistan must couple battlefield successes with domestic political and institutional reform. The DG did not merely issue warnings—he offered an evidence-based audit of where the state has fallen short: partial NAP roll-out, porous borders sustained by illicit commerce, weak prosecutions, and political calculus that sometimes favors short-term advantage over public safety.
This diagnosis matters because military operations alone cannot eliminate insurgency. The state must close the financing channels that empower militants, regulate and integrate religious seminaries constructively, equip CTDs and judiciary with resources and legal tools for swift convictions, and break the political-criminal networks that profit from lawlessness. Media and civil society should unify behind a consistent anti-terror narrative that distinguishes between lawful dissent and support for violent extremism.
The DG’s pointed reference to a “single person” who bears outsized responsibility for the resurgence will sting political actors, but the larger point remains: Pakistan cannot let party politics undermine collective security. If political leaders prioritize power games over the protection of citizens, the state courts grave risk. The way forward requires sober introspection from provincial and federal leaders alike, plus immediate, concrete steps to enforce NAP across all its points.
Recommendations (Actionable and Non-Partisan)
- Reinstate full NAP enforcement: Restore and operationalize all 14 points with clear timelines and parliamentary oversight.
- Strengthen CTDs and prosecution: Increase resources, expedite evidence sharing, and fast-track terrorism cases to improve conviction rates.
- Crack down on illicit economies: Target smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and illegal vehicle networks that sustain militant funding.
- Harden border management while maintaining humanitarian norms: Coordinate repatriation, verifiable screening, and cross-border policing with international partners.
- Drive a unified public narrative: Enlist political leaders, media, clerical bodies, and civil society to delegitimize militant ideology and the political-criminal patronage that feeds it.
Conclusion: A Pivotal Moment for Pakistan
Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry’s Peshawar briefing warns that Pakistan stands at a crossroads. The armed forces continue to strike at militants aggressively, but unless political leaders, institutions, and society match that resolve with governance reform and the full implementation of NAP, Pakistan risks trading tactical successes for strategic failure. The DG’s message calls not for partisan advantage but for national insurance: enforce the plan, end the criminal networks, hold facilitators accountable, and unite—because the alternative is not stability, but renewed insecurity that will cost more lives and more of the country’s future.
