6,200 Terror Attacks, 1,200 Deaths Reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Over Two Years: Defence Minister

October 5, 2026 at 10:03 PM
icon-facebook icon-twitter icon-whatsapp

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that around 6,200 terrorist attacks and 1,200 deaths in terror incidents have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past two years, while Afghan nationals carried out 37 suicide attacks.

In a statement, the Defence Minister said that the issue between the state and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government is terrorism, not politics, adding that facts about the security situation in the province must be examined.

He said 14 suicide attacks have taken place in the province during the current year alone, the majority involving Afghan nationals.

The Minister said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has a total strength of around 125,000 personnel, of whom 13,000 are deployed for VIP protocol, while 17,000 posts remain vacant.

He said the Counter-Terrorism Department in the merged districts is almost non-functional, with only 17 bullet-proof vehicles and around 3,300 personnel, most of whom are contractual employees.

The Defence Minister said the police had sought 42 billion rupees for reconstruction and fortification of police posts to counter terrorist attacks, but the provincial government released only 1.2 billion rupees.

He said that, while on the one hand, claims were made on paper about spending 42 billion rupees, the amount had actually been misappropriated.

Elimination of terrorists through action

Khawaja Asif said the state’s policy is to eliminate terrorists through action rather than negotiations. He added that the policy of negotiations and engagement with terrorists is contrary to the state’s counter-terrorism policy.

The Defence Minister questioned the availability and use of funds by the provincial government. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government had received around 8.5 trillion rupees in federal financial support from 2010 to 2025.

He said the amount included 5.867 trillion rupees under the  National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, 705 billion rupees under the one per cent share of the divisible pool for the war against terrorism, 704 billion rupees for the merged districts, and 482.78 billion rupees in direct transfers.

He said 481.433 billion rupees were spent under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2016 to 2025, while 117.166 billion rupees have been provided for internally displaced persons.

ALSO READ: Taliban Regime Complicit in Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan: Pakistan’s Special Representative Warns Moscow Format

Khawaja Asif said more than 3,000 terrorism-related cases are pending prosecution, but no terrorist has so far been executed or sentenced.

He said the state’s clear policy is “Hold, Build and Transfer.” He said the first step is to secure the areas, followed by rebuilding infrastructure and institutions.

The final step is to hand over the areas to the civil administration.  The Defence Minister questioned why the provincial civil administration and courts are not moving forward to take over the administration of these areas.

icon-facebook icon-twitter icon-whatsapp