After an eventful night that saw reports of airstrikes on multiple Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targets in Kabul among other parts of Afghanistan, the Pakistani military on Friday neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

 

At least two explosions followed by gunfire were heard in Kabul late Thursday night. Said reports were followed by claims of strikes on multiple TTP camps by unidentified aircraft in different areas of Afghanistan.

 

As foreign outlets hinted at possible Pakistani involvement over repeated warnings against the use of Afghan soil for terror on this side of the border, it was announced that Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif will address a press conference at 2:30 pm on Friday.

 

Addressing the presser, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif neither confirmed nor denied if the strikes were carried out by Pakistan.

 

While he did not mention the strikes during the brief – instead focusing on the surge in terror and facilitation of militants – he went on to reiterate that Pakistan’s armed would never compromise on the security of the country or its people, when asked about any role that Pakistan may or may not have played in last night’s action.

 

He also did not confirm if TTP commander Noor Wali Mehsud was eliminated.

 

Earlier, he said the purpose of the press conference was to give an overview of the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

 

In 2024, he said, 1,435 intelligence-based operations were conducted in KP, 769 terrorists, including 58 Afghan terrorists, were killed and 272 army and FC personnel and 140 policemen were martyred while 165 civilians were killed.

 

Moreover, he continued, 10,115 operations were conducted in 2025 until September 15. In these operations, 970 terrorists were killed while 311 Pakistan army personnel were martyred.

 

While terrorism incidents had started increasing 2021 onwards, “the response also went up”, the ISPR chief said.

 

Lt Gen Chaudhry said following the 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, security forces had started uprooting terrorism as part of a comprehensive strategy. “We reached close to [realising] the dream of a peaceful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. [But], unfortunately, as part of a plan, terrorists and their facilitators were then provided space here.”

 

“Governance and public welfare were deliberately weakened and attempts were made to build a misleading narrative. The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are paying its price with their blood and sacrifices even today,” he said, going on to outline the factors that led to this situation.

 

First reason, he said, was not fully implementing the National Action Plan, followed by politicising the issue of terrorism, India using Afghanistan as a base of operation for terrorism in Pakistan, the provision of modern weapons to terrorists in Afghanistan after United States’ (US) exit, and the existence of a “terrorism-crime nexus” that had “complete local and political backing”.

 

He said that after the APS attack, all political parties and the provincial and federal governments had devised the NAP. “All political parties agreed that the implementation of the NAP was necessary for eliminating terrorism,” but, he added the then-government removed some provisions of the plan in 2021 despite progress in those areas and came up with the “revised” NAP.

 

All political parties, provincial governments and the federal government then agreed to the full implement all 14 points of the revised plan, he said, asserted that the empirical evidence demonstrated that work was being done on the first point of the NAP, which pertained to kinetic operations.

 

He then went on to question the work being done on the remaining 13 points.

 

Reaffirming the nation's resolve to eradicate terrorism, the ISPR chief paid tribute to the people of KP for their unwavering courage in the fight against militancy.

 

“The people of KP are bravely fighting terrorism,” he said, adding that the brave sons of the soil have written a glorious history of sacrifice and valour with their blood.

 

Renewing the commitment to uproot terrorism, he said that Pakistan’s security forces, along with the nation, remain determined to ensure lasting peace and stability across the country.

 

The ISPR chief also paid tribute to brave martyrs who laid down their lives in recent engagements with terrorists.