Pakistan concedes ‘political-criminal-terror nexus’ amid deadliest year in a decade

Pakistan admits terror-criminal nexus

Pakistan’s military has acknowledged the presence of a “political-criminal-terror nexus” within the country, an admission that comes as official data and independent reports point to a sharp rise in violence across several regions, The Times of India reported.

Addressing the issue on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said nearly 71 per cent of terrorist incidents recorded in 2025 originated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). He attributed the concentration of attacks to a “politically conducive environment and the flourishing political-criminal-terror-nexus which is flourishing there”.

Figures released by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) underline the scale of the problem. KP saw the steepest rise in violence, with fatalities increasing from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025 — a year-on-year jump of more than 40 per cent.

The broader national picture is even more alarming. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), 2025 emerged as the “deadliest” year in a decade, recording 3,387 combat-related deaths. These included 2,115 terrorists, 664 security personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees.

PICSS said violence escalated both in “tempo and lethality”, pushing several security indicators to their highest levels in years. “Militant attacks climbed to their highest annual total since 2014, and the use of suicide bombings and small drones included a clear upward trend,” the report said. Suicide attacks rose by 53 per cent, while overall terrorist incidents increased to 1,063 — the highest figure since 2014.

Security personnel and civilians also paid a growing price. Fatalities among security forces rose by 26 per cent to their highest level since 2011, while civilian deaths increased by 24 per cent, marking the worst toll in a decade. Injuries surged by 53 per cent to 2,263 across all categories.

The violence has been particularly intense in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In Bannu, Deputy Inspector General Sajjad Khan said 27 police personnel were killed in 134 attacks during 2025. Police conducted 168 intelligence-based operations, arresting 105 militants and killing 65 others, he said.

Pakistan has frequently accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of sheltering the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad blames for the spike in attacks since 2021. Afghan officials have rejected the allegations, insisting they do not allow their territory to be used for attacks against other countries.

While the TTP operates independently of Afghanistan’s Taliban, the two groups maintain close ties. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated since October, when border clashes followed explosions in Kabul on October 9 that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. Although Qatar later brokered a ceasefire, talks hosted by Turkey in November failed to deliver a lasting agreement.