Pakistan mum on Kabul 'airstrikes', accuses India of using Afghanistan as ‘terror base’

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, during a press conference, neither confirmed nor denied reports of Thursday’s airstrikes in Afghanistan but accused India of using Afghan territory as a “base of operation for terrorism” against Pakistan.

The briefing also sought to address the worsening security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The remarks came after Kabul was rocked by two powerful explosions followed by bursts of automatic gunfire, with witnesses claiming to have heard a fighter jet over the city’s airspace.

According to top intelligence sources cited by News18, the incident was reportedly a targeted aerial strike on Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud, who was allegedly operating from a TTP and al-Qaeda safehouse in eastern Kabul.

“Pakistan has strong evidence of TTP’s terror activities from Afghanistan. The Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KP) government must protect its citizens instead of begging Afghanistan for security. Indian proxies are working in Afghanistan and using Afghan soil for terrorism," Chaudhry said.

He added that the TTP enjoys support from elements within the Afghan Taliban and that non-state actors are exacerbating Pakistan’s security crisis.

“The TTP has the support of Afghan Taliban and non-state actors are fuelling terrorism in Pakistan. No politician or politics is above the state. If someone thinks he / she is above then it will be not acceptable. No more status quo — facilitators of terrorists will not be spared. The failure to enforce National Action Plan is enabling surge in terrorism," he said.

He highlighted that although terrorism has surged in recent years, the swift and decisive actions of the Pakistan Army, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement are evident to all.

He noted that governance gaps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been filled by the “blood of security personnel” and issued a stern warning to those facilitating terrorism, stating that a “political-criminal nexus" is driving the rise in militant incidents.

“In 2014, after the incident of Army public school tragedy, the government of that time and the military began rooting out the menace of terrorism from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," said the DG ISPR.

He also highlighted that in 2025 so far, at least 917 terrorists have been neutralized in over 10,115 intelligence-led operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with 132 civilians and 311 Pakistan Army personnel among the 516 people martyred during this period.