• Spokesperson says appeasement of terrorists never a policy; terrorists, facilitators have to surrender before the state or face its wrath
• ISPR chief says engagements with Afghan Taliban proved futile; parries questions about ‘Kabul strikes’, vows all steps to be taken to protect people
• Lt-Gen Chaudhry rails against critics of military operations; says instead of fixing the governance gaps, terrorism has been politicised

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s military spokesperson on Friday vowed the country would not ‘mortgage’ the security of its people with any country, particularly with Afghanistan.

“Appeasement of terrorists and their facilitators is never and not a policy,” Lt-Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations, said during a press conference held in the provincial capital.

The army spokesperson spoke at length while answering questions about the prevailing security environment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the presser.

He, however, sounded aggressive when asked about calls by the jailed PTI leader Imran Khan to seek direct negotiations with the Afghan Taliban to end bloodshed in the province ruled by his political party. “The state of Pakistan and its armed forces would not be bothered by political distortions,” he asserted.

“The state and its people will not and cannot be left to the whims of any single person who is singularly the most responsible man for bringing terrorism back to KP,” the ISPR chief said, without taking any names.

He picked holes in what he called “governance gaps” in the province in terms of infrastructure and funding for counter-terrorism efforts. “Pay attention to your basic duty instead of begging Afghanistan for security.”

“No single individual will be allowed to bargain the lives, honour, and property of the citizens to serve his own interests. Governance gaps are being fixed with the blood of the martyrs of KP,” he said.

The presser significantly came on the heels of Imran Khan’s decision to replace Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur with Sohail Afridi, a PTI loyalist from Khyber tribal district, whose views about military operations in the province are totally in sync with his jailed leader.

Mr Gandapur, in contrast, walked a tight-rope, supporting ‘targeted military operations’ much to the chagrin of his party boss and his unflinching power base on social media — a feat that ultimately cost him his job and led to his unceremonious exit as the chief executive of the volatile province.

“Instead of fixing the governance gaps, terrorism has been politicised,” the ISPR DG said, adding why no one was asking about 70 per cent of the terrorist attacks occurring in KP alone.

In yet another apparent dig at the jailed PTI chief, the DG asked, “Who is saying today that there should be talks and no operations against them (terrorists)… who is the one saying that he cannot accept his provincial government that does not stand against operations. It is for everyone to see.”

He said that the status quo would no longer be the order of the day. Militants and their facilitators, he added, would either have to surrender before the state or join the state to fight the militants. “Else be prepared for the full response of the State of Pakistan. The time has come when we have to be very clear about it. The status quo will not be tolerated anymore.”

Talks with Kabul

The DG said that Pakistan had been engaging with Afghanistan using bilateral and multilateral forums, directly and through mutual friendly countries, including the Saudis, the UAE, and the Chinese, to get them to stop militants from using Afghan soil against Pakistan.

“We engaged with Afghanistan and the results are before everyone to see. Who do we speak to now?”

He avoided directly answering questions related to reported strikes in the Afghan capital late Thursday night and said that while Pakistan expected Afghanistan, with which it had historical and cultural connections, to stop its soil from being used by terrorists, it would take all the necessary steps to protect the lives and property of its people.

A reporter caught up with the DG at the end of the presser and repeated the question and asked whether Pakistan owned or denied the strikes or whether the TTP head, Mufti Noor Wali, was the target. “The answer to your question lies in the question you have asked,” he remarked before exiting the auditorium.

Action against terrorists in KP

The military spokesman informed reporters that a total of 10,115 operations were conducted against terrorists in KP in 2025 until September 15, eliminating 970 of them, while also resulting in the martyrdom of 311 army personnel, 73 policemen, and 132 civilians.

Terrorism was allowed to grow through a well-thought-out plan through weak governance and misleading narrative. “The people are paying for this with their lives,” he added.

National Action Plan

He also discussed the 14-point National Action Plan signed and endorsed by all the political parties in parliament, highlighting certain elements of the document that lacked action, including the conviction rate of terrorism cases in the courts, the registration of religious seminaries, the capacity building of the counter-terrorism department, and the Afghan refugees’ repatriation.

Court-martial of ex-spymaster

The military spokesman was asked whether the military was anywhere near concluding the case against former ISI chief Faiz Hameed, and investigating his role in the disastrous peace negotiations with the Afghan Taliban that ultimately paved the way for the return of terrorism to Pakistan.

He said that the trial of the former spymaster was ongoing in a deliberate and fair manner in line with due process of law and justice and assured that it would come to its logical and just end.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2025