Four terrorists were arrested during a successful operation by security forces near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Toba Kakri area in Balochistan, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
Islamabad has consistently voiced concerns that the banned TTP uses Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan, asking the Afghan interim government to rein in the group. Kabul denies the allegations.
Citing security sources, Radio Pakistan today said weapons — including Kalashnikovs, hand grenades and other firearms — were recovered from the arrested terrorists.
The arrested terrorists confessed to planning a major terrorist attack, the report added. It quoted one of those held as admitting that they had “entered Pakistan three days ago from Afghanistan”.
The local population played a significant role in the success of this operation against the terrorists, Radio Pakistan quoted security sources as saying.
It added that “defence experts described it [as] a positive development that the local population is fighting alongside security forces against the terrorists”.
The defence experts were quoted as saying that the “primary reason for the rise in terrorism in Pakistan are the terrorist organisations flourishing on Afghan soil”.
“They said Afghanistan has become a haven for terrorists and immediate international action is needed,” Radio Pakistan stated.
The arrest comes a day after a remotely detonated blast in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district killed five people and critically wounded 10 others. According to police, the blast targeted the vehicle of pro-government tribal elder Abdul Samad Samalani.
Earlier this week, an attack on the Bannu Cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s namesake district left five soldiers martyred as 16 terrorists were killed in the response. Due to the destruction caused by the blasts, 13 civilians, including six children, lost their lives, while another 32 were injured.
Rise in terrorism
Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.
February saw a marginal increase in terrorist attacks but a sharp surge in civilian casualties, according to a report published by an Islamabad-based think tank, the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Piccs).
According to Piccs, the country witnessed 79 terrorist attacks last month, resulting in the deaths of 55 civilians and 47 security personnel, while 45 civilians and 81 security personnel were injured. Security forces, meanwhile, intensified counter-terrorism operations, eliminating 156 terrorists, injuring 20, and arresting 66, the report said.
It further said that Balochistan remained the most volatile province, recording 32 attacks that claimed 56 lives — including 35 civilians, 10 security personnel, and 11 militants.
