• DG ISPR says border fences ineffective without proper surveillance; sealing border fully is costly, impractical
• Holds lack of governance in KP areas equally responsible for resurgence of attacks
• Says TTP support, funding from Afghan soil unacceptable; open to third-party verification mechanism
• Mocks India’s claims of victory in May conflict
ISLAMABAD: Afghan forces open fire at Pakistani check posts across the border to facilitate the infiltration of terrorists into the country, says Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry.
While he made the comments during an interaction with journalists on Nov 25, a video of the briefing was released by the ISPR on Friday evening.
“Borders are always mutually guarded. Both countries [guard] them. Now, on the other side is such a country whose posts first engage your posts through fire, and an exchange begins. And then they have them (terrorists) pass through the gaps in between,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said.
The DG ISPR said one would barely find any “administration” on the borders in terrorism-prone areas, except in “hardly five to 10 per cent” of the areas.
“Go to Tirah, Khyber; you will not find any governance. Neither will you find any courts, nor any departments that deal with law enforcement and writ of the government.”
The ISPR chief also pointed out that villages and populations were “divided” across the Pak-Afghan border.
“There are 29 tribes here that are divided, whose population is here (Pakistan) and there (Afghanistan) as well. Right on the border. How will you control the movement there?” he asked.
He questioned how terrorists infiltrated the Pak-Afghan border, smuggling occurred, and non-custom-paid vehicles passed despite army and Frontier Corps presence.
He then showed images of border fences. He highlighted that military posts were set up at a distance of about 15-25 kilometres from the border.
Noting suggestions for hermetically sealing the border, the DG ISPR questioned whether even the United States, with its vast resources, was unable to do the same to its border with Mexico.
“What you call a fence has no value in military terms if it is not covered by observation of fire, because someone can hold and cut that obstacle to bridge it,” he said.
The military spokesman said building a security post every 2-5km and having drone surveillance would incur a “huge cost”. “You will have to invest in the infrastructure, as well as manpower,” he emphasised.
Speaking on the “terror-crime nexus”, the DG ISPR said cells of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the Pakistani side provided support to this network.
Similar to the strategy he explained for terrorists’ infiltration, Lt Gen Chaudhry said there were extremely coordinated attacks on the army and FC deployments on the routes. “[They] attack the posts and have smugglers’ vehicles pass from below,” he said.
He further said that non-custom-paid vehicles were a part of this network.
He questioned why 0.40-0.45 million non-custom-paid vehicles move freely in the province without being stopped or checked, calling it a failure of responsibility. The DG ISPR said these vehicles are linked to a political-terror-crime nexus and used by terrorists for explosives and movement.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said Pakistan’s stance in the failed Pak-Afghan dialogue was clear: TTP presence and funding from Afghan soil are unacceptable. Pakistan presented undeniable evidence and is open to a third-party agreement for verifying cross-border terrorism control.
‘India wants to sell defeat as victory’
During his media talk, Lt Gen Chaudhry also spoke about India. “We can’t do anything about a delusional mind,” the DG ISPR said, recalling the Indian army chief’s comments on the May conflict being a “trailer”.
“Seven jets were downed, 26 locations were attacked, and the S400 batteries were lost in that ‘trailer’. So, I think now he wants to watch a full horror film,” he said, adding that India wanted to sell its defeat as a victory to its population.
Speaking on the non-kinetic aspects, the director general said that the administration and the military had 140 engagements per day with the local population, including school visits and jirgas.
“The actual solution to terrorism lies in these, which the provincial and district governments ought to do […] We feel all this is missing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2025