Resettlement of TTP militants: Nation, army paying in blood for one man’s error

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army stated on Friday that security personnel and law enforcement agencies are making the ultimate sacrifice, shedding blood daily, as a consequence of decisions made in 2021 that enabled the reintegration of Fitna Al Khawarij.

Addressing the media at the Inter-Services Public Relations here, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the whole nation, particularly the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are paying the price for resettlement and rehabilitation of terrorists through talks by the-then government in 2021.

He asked on whose decision these terrorists were re-settled and rehabilitated and who gave them the strength through talks when the back of the Fitna had been broken and in 2021 it was on the run. General Chaudhry was asked to comment on a statement of the PTI founder Imran Khan in which he called for holding talks with the Afghan government and TTP (Fitna Al Khwarij). The questioner said Imran Khan had also termed Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan faulty.

General Chaudhry emphasized that the persistent calls for dialogue with terrorists are coming from the same individuals who advocated for their resettlement and rehabilitation in 2021. He stressed the importance of approaching this sensitive issue with caution, prioritizing the lives of innocent people over political agendas. The ISPR DG urged the KP government to focus on good governance, rather than politicizing terrorism and undermining counter-terrorism efforts. He appealed for unity among politicians and the nation, advocating for an end to politicizing terrorism

General Chaudhry said he would also ask those practicing politics of double standards, if there was no value to the lives of those 16 brave soldiers of the FC who sacrificed their lives while fighting Fitna Al Khwarij six days ago. “I ask if they were not lion-hearted jawans of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?” He said the whole nation was suffering due to the resettlement of terrorists and was paying the price for the decision of an individual who was not ready to learn from his mistake and was still insisting on the same.

He said Pakistan respected the sovereignty of Afghanistan but the interim regime there should not prefer Khwarij and terrorists to Pakistan. He said Army Chief General Asim Munir had also maintained that the life of every Pakistani was more sacred than the neighbouring country. “The status quo will not be acceptable if the hands stained with the blood of Pakistanis get support from across the border (Afghanistan),” he said.

He said Fitna Al Khwarij had nothing to do with Islam and it was also a big success that despite all the fake narratives, anti-state propaganda and terrorism, the morale of armed forces and the nation was very high and the country was moving forward.

“We salute our Shuhada, their families and, most important of all, the nation. For the last two years, Pakistan has been in contact with the Afghan regime in one or the other way and they are being asked time and again that they should not prefer Fitna Al Khwarij to Pakistan.

“We are not only talking directly to the Afghan regime but also indirectly through friendly countries that they should not facilitate Fitna Al Khwarij. However, if the training camps of Khwarij continue to operate on the Afghan soil freely, then Pakistan could not see the bloodshed of its innocent people, including soldiers and officers of security forces,” Gen Chaudhry continued.

The DG ISPR said: “I also question that if any party is adamant on their misguided ideology and insists on imposing their narrative [on everyone], then what is there to talk about with them?” He continued: “If the solution to such problems lay in talks, then throughout the world’s history, there would have been no wars, conflicts, battles or expeditions.”

Commenting on the start of dialogue between the government and PTI, he said it was a good omen that the political parties and politicians sit together to resolve their differences and issues through negotiations instead of doing politics of violence. He said it was the privilege of political parties and politicians to hold talks and respond to any offer.

He said the armed forces had professional and official relationships with every government and it was improper to give political colour to this relationship. “This is a national army that does not represent any school of thought, and all political parties and politicians are respectable to it,” he said. He made it clear that the politics of any individual or his desire for power was not above the country.

To a question, he said all political parties and segments of the society were unanimous that it was not only the army but the whole nation fighting against terrorism. He said the documents of the 2014 National Action Plan, revised NAP of 2021 and Azm-e-Istehkam also show that the nation and law-enforcement and security institutions had to jointly wage a war against this menace.

He said terrorism could be uprooted only when there were justice, health and education facilities and unanimity between the education system and Deeni Madaris and good governance in areas where kinetic operations had been completed and above all where the nexus of crime and terror had been broken. “Terrorism will remain unless these tasks are accomplished,” he said.

General Chaudhry said there was a nexus of illegal spectrum of trade like smuggling, non-custom paid vehicles, fake news and extortion. “Those involved in the illegal spectrum of trade do not want the implementation of steps covered in the NAP and Azm-e-Istehkam,” he said, adding that lawlessness and terrorism were promoted under this spectrum. He regretted that in many places, the illegal spectrum also enjoyed the political backing of those who due to their short-sightedness and political interests hindered the implementation of the revised NAP of 2021 and Azm-e-Istehkam. “The elite of the country should commit to act against this illegal spectrum and make and implement laws against this spectrum,” he said.

He said the security forces were braving terrorism despite the elite class support to the illegal trade activities. “The army chief has also stated that every Pakistani with or without uniform is a soldier and terrorism and gaps in governance are being filled with the blood of Shuhada,” he pointed out.

He reiterated that May 9 was not the case of the armed forces but of the whole nation. “If a violent group tries to impose its violent thought, then where will we take our society to?”

He told a questioner that following a decision of the constitution bench of the Supreme Court, the process for the conviction of May 9 culprits by a military court had been completed and it was a clear message that there was no room for such violent acts. The DG ISPR also rejected the impression of lack of transparency in military trials saying these courts had been functioning as per the Constitution and law for the last many decades and fulfilling all requirements of justice while the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had also endorsed the process of these courts.

He said all the accused tried in the military court enjoyed all the legal rights to defend themselves and they could also petition the army chief and file appeals with the Supreme Court and High Court after their convictions. He said the military trials were questioned and a fake narrative was built adding that the acts of May 9 could not be justified or defended at any forum or place.

Without naming Imran Khan, he said an individual who was speaking against the military courts himself supported them in the past. He said propaganda was also unleashed that the people involved in the May 9 acts were the agencies’ men. “If they are saying so, then we have punished our people. Why they are worried now?” he asked. He said such people had crossed all limits of deception and hypocrisy in lust for power.

He said the cases of all those involved in May 9 violence being heard in the anti-terrorist courts should be taken to their logical end. In this connection, he quoted the examples of violent acts which took place in the UK, France and Capitol Hill and the conviction of hundreds of culprits through speedy justice. “There is no space for anarchists to spread anarchy in a state in the Western world too,” he said.

The military spokesman reiterated that full justice could not be served unless all the planners and characters of May 9 were not taken to task and the nation could not allow a repetition of such violent acts. Asked if the trial of Lt. Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid will create implications for Imran Khan, he offered no comments as the matter, involving sensitive issues, was sub judice. However, he reiterated that all planners and facilitators of the May 9 incidents and those associated with violent acts would be taken to task. “We will keep apprising you of details of this case from time to time,” he said.

He said for every officer of the Pakistan Army, it was the army and the country which was most important to him. If he prefers politics to the army, then he would be held accountable, as an army man neither opposes nor supports a political party. He also mentioned that the armed forces had a very foolproof, effective and transparent system of accountability based on evidence.

Asked to give some details of the November 26 incidents, he said it was also a part of negative politics of violence in 2014 and May 9, 2023 violence, which witnessed the use of force for political coercion.

He recalled that the Ministry of Interior had also clarified in a statement released on December 1 that the army was not in direct contact with the protesters during the violent acts, while troops were also not deputed to control the violent mob. “The army was confined to the Red Zone due to the presence of VVIPs from friendly countries.”

He, however, said that the ministry’s release also clarified that the leaders, guards and workers were armed with lethal arms and might have used the same but the enforcement agencies were not armed with the same weapons. When the leaders fled the scene, a pre-planned and fabricated narrative was spread on social media, aimed at fueling chaos and diverting attention from their failure.

He said the law permitted peaceful protests and freedom of expression but if personnel of law-enforcement agencies were attacked and martyred with teargas shells and weapons, then it constituted political terrorism and not a political protest.

“If armed groups attack the federal capital and consider it politics, then in future any group will try to impose its ideology through use of force,” he said.

“We can safely say that the control of this politics of anarchy does not rest with the country’s political leadership. The social media accounts abroad were controlling the same,” he said.

To a question about the Kurram situation, he said it was a complex social issue and misplaced governance priorities but the provincial government and local authorities were blaming the institutions. It was not a sectarian but a complex issue of land, which was being prolonged, he said.

Sharing the details of actions of 2025, the DG ISPR said a total of 59,775 operations were conducted by the security forces during the current year. “During these successful operations, 925 terrorists, including Khwarij, were eliminated while numerous were arrested.” He said the number of terrorists killed was the largest in the last five years. “More than 169 operations are being conducted by the Pakistan Army, law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the police on a daily basis,” he added.

He said the forces also successfully eliminated 73 high-value targets and most-wanted terrorists during the operations.