aj-Gen Faisal Naseer has been appointed as the new head of the National Counterterrorism Authority.

Over the past 16 years, some security experts say, the NACTA has faced serious challenges in working effectively and independently. They say it has struggled on several occasions with political ownership, institutional capacity, administrative stability, staffing, resources, independence and the core task of becoming a focal intelligence coordination organisation.

A September 4 notification issued by the Establishment Division states that the appointment of Maj-Gen Naseer was made with the approval of the federal government under Section 9(1) of the NACTA Act, 2013. “Major General Faisal Naseer has been appointed on a three-year deputation basis on standard terms and conditions, with immediate effect and until further orders,” the notification read.

The NACTA was established under an administrative order in 2008. Its powers, structure and mandate were defined in 2013 with the promulgation of the NACTA Act. The Act granted it administrative and financial autonomy. It was answerable to a board of governors. The Act also established an Executive Committee to assist the board, with the interior minister as its chairman.

Maj-Gen Naseer is the 17th National Coordinator of the NACTA. Out of the 16 NACTA national coordinators before him, 12 were from the Police Service of Pakistan and four belonged to the Pakistan Administrative Service. His predecessor, Jawad Ahmed Dogar, was appointed in 2025. A couple of months later, he was assigned the additional charge of director general of the National Forensic Agency. NACTA’s first head, Tariq Pervaiz, had resigned within a year allegedly on account of the government’s disinterest in empowering the authority.

The NACTA was formed in 2008. Its first head was appointed in 2010. The key purpose of the organisation was collate intelligence for policy making at the federal level. The first BoG meeting was held in 2018.

The NACTA was established by the government of Pakistan under an administrative order in 2008. Its powers, structure and mandate were defined in 2013 with the promulgation of the NACTA Act.

The main objectives of the authority are to coordinate and unify counterterrorism efforts by devising comprehensive counterterrorism strategies, forwarding suggestions to the government for implementation and acting as a think-tank and a coordinating body between various civil and military intelligence agencies and departments.

According to the NACTA Act, its functions include receiving and collating data, information and or intelligence and disseminating and coordinating with all stakeholders to formulate threat assessments with periodic reviews to be presented to the federal government for making adequate and timely efforts to counter terrorism and extremism; to coordinate and prepare comprehensive national counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies and review them on a periodic basis; to develop action plans against terrorism and extremism and report to the federal government about implementation of these plans on a periodic basis; and to carry out liaison with international entities for facilitating cooperation in areas relating to terrorism and extremism. In the beginning, the NACTA chief reported to the PM. Later, through an amendment in the law, he was placed under the interior minister.

According to NACTA’s own reports it has faced severe staff shortages. The NACTA came into limelight in 2014 following the terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The incident also led to the formation of a 14-point National Action Plan to counter terrorism and extremism. The NAP has been revised a couple of times since then.

Only a couple of NACTA national coordinators have completed three-year terms. Mehr Khaliq Dad Lak was the longest-serving head with a tenure of almost three and a half years (September 3, 2018 to February 24, 2022). Ihsan Ghani, too, served for almost three years (August 21, 2015, to July 2, 2018). Muhammad Tahir Rai served for a little more than two years (March 1, 2022, to August 29, 2024), and Khwaja Khalid Farooq for almost two years (July 19, 2011, to April 5, 2013). Over the remaining six and a half years, 14 national coordinators were appointed.

The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at [email protected]. He tweets at @waqargillani