By Asghar Ali Mubarak
In the corridors of Pakistan’s power, a familiar yet urgent refrain has resurfaced: the nation must decisively defeat terrorism. Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, in recent statements, has vowed to eliminate the menace entirely, framing the struggle as both a military and moral imperative. Speaking at a high-level meeting on law and order, he emphasized that the entire nation stands behind its armed forces and that Pakistan’s sovereignty, integrity, and dignity will remain inviolate. The Prime Minister’s comments come against a backdrop of mounting cross-border tensions, a complex web of regional rivalries, and the unrelenting specter of militancy that continues to shape Pakistan’s security calculus.
Pakistan’s war against terrorism is far from theoretical. Field Marshal-led operations, according to official sources, aim to counter groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and separatist militants in Balochistan, whom Islamabad accuses of receiving tacit support from neighboring countries. The gravity of the challenge is reflected in staggering casualty figures. In 2025 alone, over 600 members of Pakistan’s security forces were killed, primarily in provinces bordering Afghanistan, as militant groups exploited porous borders, fragile governance, and the availability of modern weaponry to mount increasingly sophisticated attacks. The human toll, whether among soldiers, law enforcement personnel, or civilians caught in the crossfire, underscores the profound stakes of the ongoing struggle.
Underlying Pakistan’s domestic security crisis is a geopolitical conundrum with roots that extend well beyond its own borders. Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan has repeatedly warned of a resurgent terrorist threat emerging from Afghan soil. Prime Minister Sharif, speaking in Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat, highlighted the international community’s obligation to hold the Afghan authorities accountable, insisting that Pakistan cannot shoulder the burden of a threat originating beyond its frontiers. Yet the response from Kabul remains ambivalent at best. While Taliban authorities deny harboring Pakistani militants, UN monitoring reports indicate that groups such as the TTP, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations continue to receive logistical and operational support, access to weapons, and freedom of movement in Afghan territory. This ambiguous complicity has, according to international observers, emboldened insurgent networks and destabilized Pakistan’s western provinces.
The situation is further complicated by the legacy of decades-long international involvement in Afghanistan. A succession of foreign interventions, most prominently the United States’ $85 billion military and reconstruction effort, has left a contradictory legacy: sophisticated weaponry intended to stabilize Afghanistan now arms the very groups that threaten Pakistan. Investigations by the Washington Post and the UN’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) document the proliferation of American-made rifles, night vision devices, and armored vehicles into the hands of the TTP and other militants. The ambivalence of oversight, flawed logistics, and weak governance has created a fertile environment for insurgents to equip themselves far beyond the capabilities of local law enforcement, rendering Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations both urgent and perilously complex.
Recent incidents, such as the Jaffar Express attack in Balochistan in March 2024, provide a stark illustration of this reality. Militants, armed with advanced American weapons abandoned in Afghanistan, seized the train, taking hundreds of passengers hostage. The ensuing operation, which lasted two days, resulted in the deaths of 33 attackers and dozens of civilians, including security personnel. The recovery of US-supplied M4 carbines and night vision devices at the site exemplifies how poorly monitored transfers of military hardware can have lasting consequences for regional security. For Pakistan, these are not abstract risks—they are immediate threats that shape strategy, policy, and the daily lives of those on the front lines.
Prime Minister Sharif has consistently framed Pakistan’s response in both tactical and strategic terms. The government’s counter-terrorism policy encompasses not only military operations but also broader societal measures: strengthening the rule of law, maintaining public order, and addressing the economic conditions that can drive disenfranchised youth toward militancy. Additionally, Sharif has emphasized the importance of cooperation with Afghan authorities in curbing cross-border militancy, a recognition that regional stability is inseparable from domestic security. At the same time, Pakistan’s leadership has made clear that repeated provocations—such as the October 2025 cross-border attacks that killed 11 soldiers, including the first assault near Kabul—could trigger further military responses, demonstrating a willingness to project force in defense of sovereignty.
Yet these measures exist within a precarious geopolitical environment. Relations with Afghanistan remain fraught, even as both nations navigate the residual consequences of 2025’s conflicts. The presence of highly capable insurgent networks, armed with sophisticated weaponry, and the Taliban’s uneven governance capacity make the potential for escalation acute. Pakistan’s strategic calculations must also contend with the broader South Asian security matrix, including tensions with India, as well as overlapping conflicts across the region that collectively contribute to instability. Analysts argue that Pakistan’s current predicament is emblematic of the wider failures in Afghanistan—failures rooted in the international community’s miscalculations, flawed assumptions about governance capacity, and the unintended consequences of poorly controlled military assistance.
(The writer is a senior journalist covering various beats, can be reached at editorial@metro-morning.com)
