DG ISPR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was among terrorism facilitators
DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said an inept and indifferent provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was among the facilitators of terrorism. He said about 200 intelligence-based operations are carried out daily.
- DG ISPR said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was among terrorism's facilitators.
- He said a facilitator obstructing counter-terrorism in the province is no longer there.
- About 200 intelligence-based operations are carried out daily, he said.
- Remarks came in a Reuters interview dated 30 October 2026.
DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that an inept and indifferent government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was among the facilitators of terrorism. Express News and Daily Pakistan reported his remarks, which come from an interview with Reuters dated 30 October 2026.
He said one facilitator that had been obstructing counter-terrorism efforts in the province is no longer there. On the question of the government's removal, he said it is a political matter, but the change followed constitutional and legal procedures.
The DG ISPR said Pakistan has a clear strategy to deal with terrorism, which includes eliminating terrorists and all their facilitators inside the country. He said some terrorism-related issues must be handled internally.
He said no one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa opposes counter-terrorism operations, and that only those with links to terrorists oppose them. He added that the people of the province have suffered the most from terrorism.
According to him, intelligence-based operations are being carried out in the province instead of a major military operation. He said security forces conduct about 200 such operations daily, jointly by police, the army and other law enforcement agencies.
He said Pakistan's mindset differs from India's, which he said labels all internal problems as external. He described Afghanistan as the base from which terrorism in Pakistan is carried out, with terrorist leadership, training camps and launch pads. He added that Pakistan does not claim all terrorism in the country is due only to Afghanistan, and that no country or army has the experience Pakistan has gained from 20 years of fighting terrorism.
Turning to Balochistan, Express News reported he said terrorists are trying to sabotage development on the orders of their masters. He said they attack mining sites, LPG trucks, schools and teachers, and try to destroy bridges and railway lines to halt economic activity.
He said the Balochistan elite want ordinary people to stay poor and illiterate to maintain their influence, and that terrorists and the elite collude because both oppose the province's development.
Why it matters
The remarks link provincial governance to terrorism and describe how security operations are conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, affecting residents of those regions.
