Published: 12:20 AM, 17 June 2026
Terror Menace Continues in Pakistan
Once again, there does not seem to be any letup in the incidents of terror in Pakistan. According to Pakistan news media, after several months of decline in terrorist violence in March and April this year, a fresh wave of fatal incidents has raised new doubts over Afghanistan’s alleged commitment to preventing the misuse of its territory against Pakistan. Over the course of five days starting May 9, terrorists have struck a police post in Bannu, a traffic police deployment in Lakki Marwat, and a security deployment in Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Interestingly, all the targets are Police in particular.
Reacting to the attacks, the Afghan Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad was issued a strong demarche by the Pakistan Foreign Office following the Bannu incident. It was a sophisticated attack, involving a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and a multipronged ground assault with heavy weaponry and quadcopters, and it claimed the lives of 15 police personnel. The Foreign Office said technical intelligence had specifically revealed that the attack was masterminded by perpetrators in Afghanistan. The Afghan representative was told that Pakistan reserved the right to respond, and the Defence Minister later warned the Pakistan would consider open war if the attacks did not stop. It had appeared for a while that Operation Ghazab lil-Haq had established a scale of deterrence that would encourage the Afghan authorities to adopt a more proactive approach towards containing threats launched from their soil. However, it was short lived. The involvement of China in the arbitration process between Kabul and Islamabad, which culminated in the suspension of kinetic measures after talks in Urumqi, also stayed Pakistan’s hand. But with a mounting death toll, pressures once again begun to grow to reconsider military responses. These are all extensively covered in the Pakistani media.
Here, it may be recalled that Pakistan had previously displayed that it is prepared to use force in order to achieve peace and eliminate threats to its interests. It is to its own danger that the Afghan side seems to be mistaking Islamabad’s restraint for lack of any resolve. At the same time, Pakistan claims to have repeatedly clarified that it does not support violence for achieving its security goals.
Meanwhile, security experts feel that KP’s security mechanism must close ranks with the federal authorities, and Pakistan’s security establishment must go on the offensive against infiltrating terrorists, instead of taking a reactive approach. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government should accepting to Pakistan media also reconsider its narrative, which has lent credence to militant propaganda, particularly around quadcopter attacks. Basically, Pakistan media seems to be biased with the provincial government in KP.
In the meantime, according to widely read English newspaper `Dawn’, data indicates terrorists had launched 246 such attacks this year alone, the bulk targeting the police in Bannu. Criticizing the security apparatus while staying silent on this sustained offensive against law enforcement is a double standard that must end. Better intelligence sharing and coordination between police, federal security authorities and the armed forces will help isolate and target hostile elements effectively. It would appear from these indications and developments that Pakistan has been desperately trying “trial and error” methods to control terror but all in vain.
Assessing the terror situation, Dr Raashid Wali Janjua, security and defence analyst of Pakistan, says that the acts of terror by outfits like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and now their equally virulent variants like lttehad-e-Mujahideen-e-Pakistan (IMP), have continued in a sinusoidal wave ever since the launch of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq. The latest attacks are a grim reminder of the terror that still haunts the newly merged as well as the settled districts of KP. The impunity and persistence of the attackers reflect their resolve and sinister desire to attain their objectives despite incurring heavy losses. According to this expert’s estimates, operation Ghazab Lil Haq was the correct decision, albeit after a long delay, demonstrating the state’s clarity and resolve to take on terrorism head-on, without any ambivalence or equivocation. The reality of the battle against terrorism, which has both internal and external abettors, however, needs to be understood through an honest appraisal of the underlying causes and enabling factors that sustain terrorism. Afghanistan, being the main source of terrorism, is being driven by a clique that captured Kabul through the power of the gun and is not beholden to public opinion or political settlement. These are all primarily Pakistan media assessments.
The ongoing assessment further states that it is for this pin pointed reason that the Afghan Taliban regime cannot bring itself to confront the heterogeneous blend of terrorist outfits active in Afghanistan, each pursuing its own agenda. The Afghan Taliban, meanwhile, is split into multiple power centres. The `Kandahari’ faction, led by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, which combines spiritual as well as temporal power, occupying the traditional seat of governance in Afghanistan in Kandahar, and is the most medieval in outlook. The another faction active is the Haqqani group, which comprises the Zadran tribal leadership and has influence in eastern and northern regions, including Kabul. This group has greater muscle power and is creating its own proxies, such as the Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP) to expand its reach and effectiveness outside Afghanistan. The third main faction is the National Resistance Front (NRF), comprising the erstwhile Northern Alliance, including Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras, besides a few disgruntled anti-Taliban Pashtuns. Another power faction, the TTP (Fitna tul Khawarij), is operating in eastern Afghanistan, in Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Nangarhar. The reach of the faction and its new rival IMP, with active help from the Haqqani faction, has now extended towards Kunar as well.
Terrorist entities like Al Qaeda and Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) are equally active in Afghanistan, with the latter having a sizable presence in Nangarhar and Kunar. Of late, all these terror outfits have started sharing intelligence and training expertise with one another and are acting as feeders with perfect coordination for each other. The American arms and ammunition abandoned in Afghanistan are being used by these terror networks. As the TTP and its leader, Nur Wali Mehsud, got closer to the Kandahari faction, the Haqqanis created the IMP as a countervailing force, which now has more suicide bombers than the TTP. Odds and ends like Lashkar-e-Islam and Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s factions are also part of the IMP now. These are of course assessments of the Pakistani analysts who tend to project anti-Afghanistan and pro Pakistan. There are certain external and internal realities that Pakistani policymakers must recognize. On the external front, it should be understood that the present Afghan rulers are inspired both by their warped ideology and Afghan irredentism.
Meanwhile, the experts recommend and strongly reckon that Pakistan has lost its space in Afghanistan that needs to be regained, especially in the shape of an effective counterterror network. Pakistan’s response has created some impact, but due to the non-elimination of the top leadership of the TTP, the overall capacity to foment terror remains intact. The TTP and IMP are becoming more active on social media and using cellphone technology to the utmost effect for recruitment, planning and propaganda. While the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) continue to put pressure on terrorists and their sponsors, the political and diplomatic arms of the state should engage with elements wielding influence in the Afghan regime to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough. All these efforts must continue while keeping regional countries like China, Iran and the Central Asian states in the loop. There is also a possibility of an internecine conflict pitting the Haqqanis (including IMP) and NRF against the Kandahari faction.
Internally and from the Pakistan point of view, it looks that the TTP and now IMP retain the capacity to launch attacks against civilian as well as the LEA targets There are areas where the terrorists find refuge due to their coercive tactics and tribal affiliations, as the population still dread them. Pakistan according to the security professionals, needs a unified national response in which the KP government lends a willing and effective hand to the federal government’s counter terrorism endeavors. David Galula, the expert on counter insurgency, recommends, among other things, strengthening of an “active minority” among the people who could fight on behalf of the state and win over more people.
Whatever these assessments may mean or interpreted, Pakistan has not been really able to contain the acts of terror particularly on the borders adjoining Afghanistan. A lot has to be done to rein prevailing the menace and, reinforcing their intelligence is of primary concern. Also, addressing terror concerns should be more important than attempts to mediate in the Iran-US deadlock which is not of paramount security concerns.
Shantanu Mukharji is a retired
IPS officer and former National
Security Adviser in Mauritius.
