Tag: Afghanistan

Pakistan has told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that terrorist groups operating from sanctuaries inside neighbouring Afghanistan remain the gravest threat to its national security, calling on the issue to be addressed as a priority for regional peace.

Speaking at the council’s briefing on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad underscored that Islamic State-Khorasan, Al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Majeed Brigade and others were among the terrorist entities that continued to operate from Afghan sanctuaries.

Ahmad said more than 60 terrorist camps were functioning as hubs for cross-border infiltration and attacks. “We have credible evidence of collaboration among these groups through joint training, illicit weapons trade, refuge to terrorists and coordinated attacks aimed at civilians, security forces and development projects in Pakistan.”

He said the threat extended to cyberspace where about 70 propaganda accounts traced back to Afghan IP addresses were spreading extremist messaging. “Curbing these networks requires full cooperation from social media platforms,” he stressed.

The envoy said Pakistan and China had jointly requested the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee to list the BLA and Majeed Brigade and expressed hope for swift action on the proposal. He detailed that the outlawed TTP had an estimated 6,000 fighters, as according to him, it was the largest terrorist group on Afghan soil.

He added that Pakistan had thwarted several infiltration bids, seizing sophisticated military-grade weapons left behind by foreign forces during their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“These efforts come at a heavy price […] just this month, 12 Pakistani soldiers were martyred in a single incident,” he noted.

Drawing attention to Afghanistan’s economic and humanitarian crisis, the ambassador pointed out that the UN’s 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan had received only 27 per cent of its required funding. He further highlighted that Pakistan hosted millions of Afghan refugees for over four decades, often with inadequate international assistance, and called for a fairer sharing of the burden.

Ahmad acknowledged that civil war in Afghanistan had ended for the first time in 40 years; however, the situation remained deeply worrying, stressing that sustained engagement rather than isolation was the only way to achieve peace.

One of the country’s premium intelligence agencies has thwarted a major terror plan masterminded by a commander of the Afghanistan-based terror group Fitna al-Khawarij, aimed at carrying out a deadly assault on the strategically important Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Masroor Airbase in Karachi, The News reported today (Friday). 

As per the report, the plan was led by a high-profile FAK commander who is already wanted in multiple terrorism cases. The plot involved nine highly trained terrorists, including five Afghan nationals.

The terrorists, who had recently infiltrated Pakistan from Afghanistan, planned to infiltrate the airbase through a pre-selected entry point, take control of the facility, destroy aircraft and infrastructure, and hold the base for as long as possible. They aimed to cause maximum damage and engage in a prolonged gun battle until death, the report claims.

The operation was reportedly under the direct supervision of FAK’s top leadership based in Afghanistan and involved nearly thirteen months of planning. The terrorists had taken up accommodation near the airbase and carried out extensive surveillance of the area to prepare for the attack.

The report further claimed that the agency launched a swift, covert, and coordinated operation the moment the assaulters were about to begin the final phase of their plot, arresting the suspects from various locations nationwide, as the intelligence agency had been closely monitoring their movements. 

The agency crippled a key FAK terror network involved in several previous attacks, including the November 2024 assault on Chinese engineers at Liberty Textile Mills in Karachi’s SITE area. The same FAK commander captured in the current operation is believed to have masterminded that attack before fleeing to Afghanistan.

Authorities describe him as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) expert, trained in Afghanistan and a former militant alongside the Afghan Taliban during their conflict with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces.

Preliminary investigations suggest the involvement of hostile intelligence agencies, allegedly providing funding and equipping terrorist elements in a bid to destabilize Pakistan. Officials also referenced a similar terror plot foiled last October in which FAK and the hostile agencies had conspired to sabotage a major international event in Islamabad.

Despite such threats, Pakistan’s armed forces, intelligence services, and law enforcement agencies remain steadfast in their mission to protect the nation. Officials reaffirmed their commitment to rooting out terrorism in all its forms and safeguarding national security through coordinated, relentless vigilance.