Pakistan’s military has conducted 4,910 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) since November 4, killing 206 terrorists, the director general of ISPR, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said during an extensive briefing to senior journalists on national security.

He also shared year-to-date figures, regional breakdowns, border challenges, and Pakistan’s stance on Afghanistan, India and internal counterterror frameworks.

Pakistan’s counterterror operations surge nationwide

The DG ISPR revealed that 67,023 IBOs were carried out across the country this year. Of these, 12,857 operations were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 53,309 in Balochistan. He added that 1,873 terrorists have been eliminated this year, including 136 Afghan nationals.

The spokesman emphasized that Pakistan continues to face threats from cross-border terrorism and criminal networks operating in difficult terrain.

Pak–Afghan border challenges, Taliban regime’s facilitation

Lt Gen Chaudhry stressed that the Pakistan–Afghanistan border runs through extremely rugged, mountainous terrain, noting that globally, effective border management is a joint responsibility of both countries.

He accused the Afghan Taliban regime of fully facilitating terrorists infiltrating Pakistan and said misleading propaganda was being spread against Pakistan’s security forces regarding border management.

Other key points included:

Non-custom-paid vehicles are used in suicide attacks
Vulnerable border stretches have outposts separated by 20–25km
Border fencing requires observation posts and fire coverage to be effective
Building forts every 2–5km and deploying drones would require massive resources
Villages divided across both sides of the border make movement control extremely difficult
Border-area governance in Afghanistan is nearly non-existent

“There is a strong political–terror–crime nexus in border regions, facilitated by the terrorists,” he said.

The military spokesman further said Pakistan had placed irrefutable evidence before Afghanistan. He added that the Afghan Taliban regime harboured non-state actors, while Afghanistan housed terror centres hosting al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other groups.

“What kind of guests are these who enter Pakistan armed?” he questioned, adding that the Afghan Taliban regime did not represent the Afghan people. “We have no issue with Afghans, but with the Afghan Taliban regime.”

He further asserted that bloodshed and trade could not coexist. He repeated Pakistan’s demand that the Taliban must stop facilitating terrorists and agree to a verifiable monitoring mechanism under the Doha Agreement. "If a third party must oversee this mechanism, Pakistan would not object."

He added that the Taliban’s claim that Pakistani terrorists in Afghanistan are “guests” is illogical, and Pakistan will deal with them according to its own laws.

US weapons left in Afghanistan a regional threat: DG ISPR

Citing a SIGAR report, the ISPR DG said US forces left behind $7.2 billion worth of military equipment during their withdrawal, posing risks to multiple countries. He warned that any country supplying military hardware to the Afghan Taliban regime is effectively arming terrorists.

Pakistan’s closure of certain trade routes with Afghanistan, he said, is directly linked to security concerns and protection of the lives and property of Pakistani citizens.

He also pointed out that women — 50% of Afghanistan’s population — have no representation under the current regime, which contradicts the Taliban’s claim of legitimacy.

Sharp criticism of Indian military statements

Lt Gen Chaudhry also targeted India’s military leadership, saying Indian authorities are driven by self-deception.

Referring to the Indian Army chief’s “trailer” remark about the so-called Operation Sindoor, the ISPR DG said: “If in that trailer, seven aircraft are shot down, 26 sites hit, and S-400 batteries destroyed, then a movie based on such a trailer would be a horror film for India.”

He said repeated false Indian claims about Operation Sindoor were attempts to counter public anger.

Border management, smuggling crackdown, internal reforms

The DG ISPR outlined the government’s efforts to strengthen internal security:

Iranian diesel smuggling has fallen from 20.5 million litres per day to 2.7 million litres after crackdowns by the Army, FC and provincial authorities
Funds from smuggled fuel previously went to BLA and BYC
Implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) has brought 27 districts of Balochistan — 86% of the province — under police jurisdiction
Balochistan now has district, divisional and provincial steering, monitoring and implementation committees
Security forces conduct 140 community engagements daily and 4,000 per month, which he said are producing far-reaching positive outcomes

Without such measures, he warned, terrorism cannot be controlled.

Foreign-run social media accounts target Pakistan

The ISPR chief also maintained that many X (Twitter) accounts creating toxic, anti-state narratives are operated from abroad. “Attempts are made from overseas to inject poison into Pakistan’s politics and society,” he said, adding that foreign-backed social media networks run continuous campaigns against Pakistan.

He said it is “clear” that much of the social media activity inside Pakistan is orchestrated by external forces.