Failure to enforce the National Action Plan agreed upon.by all political parties is causing a surge in terrorism, said ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, addressing a press conference in Peshawar on the security situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.
The K-P has been on the frontlines of Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign for the past two decades, said DG ISPR. When the frequency of terrorist incidents increased again in 2021, security forces gave a “firm and effective” responsive, he said. More Khwarij have been killed in the recent past than in the last nine years combined, added Lt Gen Chaudhry.
Fitna al-Khwarij is a term the state coined for terrorists affiliated with proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after the war with India in May this year.
A total of 14,534 operations were conducted across K-P in 2024, he said. During these operations, 917 personnel of the security forces were martyed and 516 civilians were killed.
He began the press conference, streaming live on You Tube, paying tribute to the “brave and resilient people” of K-P, acknowledging their sacrifices alongside the armed forces in the fight against terrorism.