Afghan forces use unprovoked fire to facilitate terrorist infiltration into Pakistan: ISPR chief

ISLAMABAD: In a major revelation, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that the Afghan Taliban troops engage Pakistan's border forces with unprovoked firing to facilitate the infiltration of terrorists into the country.

“Borders are always mutually guarded by both countries. On the other side, there is a country whose posts first engage your posts through fire, and an exchange begins. And then they have them [terrorists] pass from the gaps in between,” the top military spokesperson said during an interaction with senior journalists Friday evening.

"If you go to the border of Sindh or Punjab, do you get divided villages or populations, or are you sitting on the border? Here [Pak-Afghan border], there are 29 tribes which are divided. The population is here and there. How will you control the movement on the same border?" he added.

He said that physical barriers alone cannot fully prevent cross-border infiltration, adding that the border fence — if not covered with observation and fire — can be breached within minutes.

Lt Gen Chaudhry said that effective border control requires continuous drone surveillance, fortified posts every few kilometres, and large-scale investment in infrastructure and manpower. “If someone wants to cut an obstacle or build a bridge, it may take only five minutes. To counter that, you need forts every few kilometres and constant monitoring, which comes at a huge cost.”

The ISPR chief also pointed out what he called the "administration issues" in the hinterland. "Go to Tira Khyber. And you will not find any sort of governance. You will not find any courts there. You will not find any departments there... where is the administration over there?"

Lt Gen Chaudhry also termed the "weak administration" in the hinterland and divided border populations as one of the factors enabling terrorism, smuggling, and illegal activities in the border regions.

Populations living on both sides of the border, he further said, create complex security challenges, while the "political-terror-crime nexus" provides support to cross-border threats.

He said the “terror-crime nexus” operates through local cells that facilitate movement, illegal trade, and the transport of weapons and vehicles. "Non-custom-paid vehicle is part of this political-terror-crime nexus, is being used in the vehicle-borne IDs and by these terrorists in their movement."

Trade with Afghanistan

The ISPR DG said national security will take precedence over trade with Afghanistan, stressing that "blood and business cannot go together" and that economic activity cannot be allowed to continue if it poses a threat to public safety.

"Our problem is not with Afghans. Our problem is with the Afghan Taliban regime. If trade is stopped, it is because security becomes paramount. The lives of our people are more important,” Lt Gen Chaudhry added.

Rejecting any distinction between “good or bad militants", he said: "In our view, there is only one kind of terrorist, and that is sent to hell."

136 Afghans among 1,873 terrorists killed in 2025

The ISPR chief added that 67,023 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted across Pakistan — mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan — during the current year as part of counter-terrorism efforts.

He said that 1,873 terrorists, including 136 Afghan nationals, have been killed in 12,857 IBOs carried out in KP and 53,309 in Balochistan.

Lt Gen Chaudhry said that 4,910 IBOs were conducted since November 4, averaging 233 operations per day.

This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.