He emphasized that Pakistan’s problem is with the Afghan Taliban regime, not the Afghan people
Director General Inter-Service Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry. Photo: File
The Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has issued a stark warning that the Afghan regime is now a threat not only to Pakistan but to the entire region and the world, citing the abandonment of US military equipment worth $7.2 billion during the US withdrawal.
Speaking to senior journalists on 25 November on issues of national security, the DG ISPR described extensive counter-terrorism operations and criticized the Afghan Taliban’s inability to prevent cross-border infiltration and its continued patronage of militant groups.
Read: DG ISPR rejects Kabul claims of airstrikes, says Pakistan ‘not operating covertly’
Lt Gen Chaudhry said Pakistani security forces have conducted 4,910 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) since November 4, 2025, killing 206 terrorists. For the current year, a total of 67,023 IBOs have been carried out nationwide, resulting in 1,873 terrorists killed, including 136 Afghans.
He highlighted the extreme difficulty of managing the Pak-Afghan border, which is very challenging and includes difficult terrain, especially the 1,229 km stretch in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 20 crossing points.
A key element of DG ISPR’s briefing was the revelation of a “very strong political-terror-crime nexus” operating in the border areas. He claimed that this connection is facilitated by “Fitna al-Khawarij” and uses non-user-paid vehicles – of which millions are said to be circulating – in suicide attacks in Pakistan.
“If non-user-paying vehicles are roaming around your province, who is responsible for stopping them?” he challenged, stating that the illegal smuggling feeds the terrorist network. The crackdown on Iranian diesel smuggling has seen daily volumes drop from 20.5 million liters to 2.7 million litres, with revenue previously funding groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Youth Council (BYC).
Read more: Army rejects Afghan airstrikes claimed to be ‘unfounded’
On the diplomatic front, DG ISPR reaffirmed Pakistan’s clear position regarding the Doha Agreement and demanded that the Afghan Taliban regime cease facilitating terrorists whose leadership and infrastructure, including al-Qaeda and Daesh, exist in Afghanistan and receive arms and funding for use against Pakistan.
Pakistan is calling on the Afghan regime to agree on a “verifiable mechanism”, saying that Pakistan would not mind if this mechanism was established by a third party.
He rejected the Taliban regime’s claim that militants are Pakistani nationals who migrated and are “guests” and challenged them to hand over any Pakistani national to be dealt with under Pakistani law.
Lieutenant General Chaudhry reiterated that the Afghan regime currently harbors “non-state actors” who pose a threat to various countries in the region, noting that the Taliban have not established an inclusive state and government after 2021. He stressed that Pakistan’s problem is with the Afghan Taliban regime, not the Afghan people, who criticize the lack of representation for all ethnicities and the exclusion of 50 percent of women.
Read also: 2025: Security forces conduct over 67,000 IBOs
Concluding his remarks, he emphasized that “bloodshed and trade cannot go together,” linking the closure of trade with Afghanistan to Pakistan’s need to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
