RAWALPINDI/ PESHAWAR/LANDIKOTAL: Pakistan has categorically rejected allegations by the Afghan interim regime of conducting strikes inside Afghanistan, with DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry dismissing the claims as “baseless” and stressing that Pakistan conducts all operations openly and never targets civilians.
Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), rejected the allegations of Pakistan attack as “baseless” and added the country conducts all its operations openly and never targets civilians. He said the allegation is part of of broader anti-Pakistan propaganda. He clarified that the country follows clear principles in its responses and acts only as a sovereign state.
Urging the Afghan government to behave like a responsible state, the DG ISPR said Pakistan’s policy is against terrorism, not against the Afghan people. He emphasised that Pakistan’s issue is with the Afghan interim regime, with which it has engaged repeatedly from 2021 to 2025, but without any tangible result. Lt Gen Chaudhry asked the Afghan regime to take decisions like a state and not act like non-state actors.
He made it clear that there could be no talks with the Afghan regime unless it conducts verifiable action against terrorists’ safe havens and hideouts on its soil, adding that there could be no trade until that happens. “Blood and trade cannot go side by side,” he maintained. He also reiterated that there are no “good” or “bad” Taliban for Pakistan, stressing that there can be no distinction between terrorists.
The ISPR statement came after the Afghan regime’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, accused Pakistan of carrying out strikes in Khost, Kunar and Paktika provinces, which, according to him, claimed the lives of 10 people.
The DG ISPR said that the Khwarij (TTP) have been using weapons left behind by the US army, and that all those who carried out recent suicide attacks were Afghan nationals. He called for an immediate ban on non-custom-paid vehicles, noting that many terrorism incidents have involved such vehicles. He also stressed the need to break the nexus between smuggling and political crime at the Pak-Afghan border. The DG ISPR told journalists that 4,910 operations have been conducted against terrorists, and that 206 terrorists have been killed since November 4.
On the trial of Lieutenant General (Retd) Faiz Hameed, he said it was a legal and judicial matter and there should be no speculation. “As soon as the trial reaches its culmination, the outcome shall be announced,” he said.
Reiterating that cross-border terrorism remains a major issue, the DG ISPR noted that every country must first put its own house in order for a coordinated war against terrorism. “The Pakistani nation stands united against this menace,” he said. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also stated that social media accounts active against the state are being operated from outside the country.
In a related development, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the Islamabad suicide attack was plotted by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud from Afghanistan.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, the Information Minister said the suicide attacker had failed to reach his original target due to tightened security. The suicide blast rocked the federal capital on November 11, martyring at least 12 people and injuring 36 outside the District Judicial Complex in Islamabad’s G-11 area. Tarar said the attack was planned by Mehsud through his commander, Dadullah, who is currently in Afghanistan. He stated that a joint operation by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) led to the arrest of four suspects within 48 hours of the attack.
“CTD has arrested Sajidullah alias Shina, Kamran Khan, Muhammad Zali, and Shah Munir,” Tarar said. “Sajidullah joined the Afghan Taliban in 2015 and received training in various camps there. He added that Sajidullah and Muhammad Zali went to Afghanistan with Dadullah and met another TTP militant, Abdullah Jan alias Abu Hamza, in Shegal before proceeding to Kabul. He added Sajidullah, visited Afghanistan in August 2025 to meet Dadullah and later remained in contact with him. He said Sajidullah, the main suspect, had brought the suicide attacker and his explosive jacket to Pakistan.
“Dadullah conveyed Mehsud’s orders regarding the suicide attack in Rawalpindi and Islamabad,” Tarar said. He said Sajidullah returned to Pakistan and met the suicide bomber, Usman Shinwari, who was a resident of Nangarhar. “Usman Shinwari was provided with the suicide jacket and he carried out the attack in G-11. The terrorists intended to cause major damage but failed to reach their target,” he said. He emphasised that all planning of the attack was carried out from Afghanistan. During the press conference, the Minister also presented a video statement of Sajidullah Shina confessing his role in planning and facilitating the attack.
Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zulfiqar Hameed said that initial findings indicate the three militants who attacked the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters in Peshawar were likely Afghan nationals.
Speaking to the media, the IG said investigators had gathered crucial evidence, including photographs, fingerprints, and CCTV footage of the suspects. “So far, the investigation suggests that all three terrorists appear to be Afghan citizens,” he said. “We have tracked the suspects quite far back. We are now trying to establish exactly how they entered the city,” he added.
The KP police chief said investigators had also identified the location where the attackers spent the night before the assault. The motorcycle used by the militants has also been taken into custody, and forensic teams have extracted fingerprints from it. “The terrorists’ motorcycle is now in our possession, and fingerprints have been obtained from it,” he said. However, Hameed clarified that no facilitator had been arrested so far.
This was the biggest attack on any police or paramilitary headquarters since the suicide bombing at the Peshawar Police Lines in January 2023, in which 86 policemen and several civilians were martyred and over 200 were injured. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi visited the FC Headquarters where he received a briefing on the incident and the overall operations of the force.
In a related development, security forces eliminated 22 Khwarij belonging to the Indian proxy in Bannu District. The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Bannu District following reports of the presence of Khwarij belonging to the Indian proxy, Fitna al-Khwarij.
During the operation the troops effectively engaged the Khwarij location and, after an intense fire exchange, 22 Khwarij were sent to hell, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. A sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored Khwarij present in the area.
The relentless counter-terrorism campaign under the vision of “Azm-e-Istehkam” (as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan) will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country, the ISPR statement added.
In yet another action, suspected militants armed with rockets and small arms attacked the Charwazgai checkpost in Landikotal tehsil of Khyber district along the Pak-Afghan border, police sources said.
According to the sources, the attackers struck the checkpost in the dead of night, prompting security personnel to respond with swift retaliatory fire. The militants fled the scene, and no loss of life was reported in the incident. Police officials said that an investigation had been launched, while a search operation was conducted in the surrounding areas to trace those behind the attack.
On the same day, official sources said, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Maidank mountains within the limits of Ali Masjid Police Station and targeted a hideout of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Sources said three terrorists were killed and two others were injured during the operation.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Taliban administration said that nine children and a woman were killed in alleged Pakistani air strikes and vowed to respond, ratcheting up tensions between the South Asian neighbours.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Islamabad struck three eastern provinces that border Pakistan, calling it a “violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and a clear breach of all internationally accepted norms by the Pakistani authorities”. “Defending our air space, territory, and people is our legitimate right,” Mujahid said in a statement. “At an appropriate time, a necessary response will be given.”
