Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry commented passionately on Friday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government must focus on safeguarding the citizens of the province, rather than, as he put it, ‘begging Afghanistan’ for security.
These emphatic remarks were delivered during a press conference held at the Peshawar Corps Headquarters. Lt Gen Chaudhry highlighted the governance shortcomings in KP, which have been costing the lives of dedicated security personnel.
‘Appeasement toward terrorists and their supporters is never and will never be our policy,’ he emphasized with stern resolve, adding that neither the state nor its institutions would be deterred by any ‘political distortions.’
‘Our state and our people cannot and will not be subjected to the whims of any single individual who bears the most responsibility for the resurgence of terrorism in KP,’ he further declared.
He expressed his hope that the government’s efforts would concentrate on effective governance and fulfilling their sacred duty to protect the populace. ‘We also hope that instead of pleading with Afghanistan for security, you will take strong measures to protect this province and its people,’ he stated.
The DG ISPR commenced the press conference by paying tribute on behalf of the Pakistani armed forces to the ‘valiant sons of the soil’ of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He outlined that the intent of this press conference was to provide an overview of the current security landscape in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan, especially KP, has confronted the menace of terrorism for the past two decades, he noted.
In 2024, he disclosed, 14,535 intelligence-based operations were executed in KP, leading to the elimination of 769 terrorists, among them 58 Afghan insurgents. Meanwhile, the martyrdom of 272 army and FC personnel, 140 policemen, and the deaths of 165 civilians were documented.
As he noted, by September 2025, 10,115 operations occurred, killing 970 terrorists and resulting in 311 Pakistan army personnel being martyred. The DG ISPR stated that increased terrorism incidents in 2021 led to a stronger response and more kharijis being killed. Post-2014 APS attack, security forces aimed to combat terrorism with a thorough strategy. A peaceful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was nearly achieved, but terrorists gained ground due to strategic plans to weaken governance and public welfare, creating a misleading narrative. The people are still paying the price for this today with blood and sacrifices.
He then described the reasons for the current situation.
The first reason, he stated, was the incomplete implementation of the National Action Plan. This was followed by the political manipulation of the terrorism issue, India’s use of Afghanistan as a base for terrorism in Pakistan, the supply of modern weapons to terrorists in Afghanistan, and the existence of a ‘terrorism-crime nexus’ with full local and political support.
Referring to the 2014 APS attack, he mentioned that all political parties, along with the provincial and federal governments, had formulated the NAP. ‘All political parties agreed that implementing the NAP was crucial for eradicating terrorism.’
However, he added, the government at the time removed some parts of the plan in 2021 despite progress, leading to a ‘revised’ NAP. All political parties, provincial governments, and the federal government then agreed to fully implement all 14 points of the revised plan.
Pointing at a plan graphic on the screen, he talked about the first point involving kinetic operations.
‘Is this being worked on or not? I have shown the data for KP to you. Just in KP, are law enforcement agencies not conducting over 40 intelligence-based operations?’
He claimed the data proved that work on the first point of the NAP was underway, then questioned the progress on the remaining 13 points.
‘Today, do we have a unified narrative? Don’t you hear calls for dialogues with these terrorists? Are we adhering to this NAP?
‘Is dialogue the solution to all problems? Tell me. If dialogue solved every issue, why didn’t the public call for talks when India fired missiles at Pakistan on May 6 and 7?’
If dialogue alone was a solution, there would be no wars, he emphasized.