ISLAMABAD: The Afghan Taliban regime has embedded terrorists, weapons and logistical networks within civilian areas, using civilian populations as human shields while leveraging propaganda to shape narratives.
The Taliban have exploited religious spaces, turning mosques from places of worship into sites used for coordination, recruitment, and shelter of terrorists, according to sources.
Recently, the Taliban regime’s Deputy Spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat alleged civilian casualties and damage to homes, schools, mosques, and a health facility in Dangam District of Kunar Province in Afghanistan.
However, such claims align with a recurring Taliban regime narrative pattern, in which unverified allegations are circulated to shape perceptions, while reports from the ground point to the deliberate militarisation of civilian spaces, according to sources.
Claims by Hamdullah Fitrat follow a manufactured propaganda script, recycling “civilians, mosques, schools” to trigger outrage without proof or verification.
Observed patterns suggest not isolated incidents but a broader trend of embedding military presence within civilian and religious environments, sources said.
The use of mosques, schools, and populated areas as cover reflects a calculated approach—operating within civilian settings, shifting risk onto civilians, and leveraging the resulting consequences for strategic messaging, sources added.
This dual strategy, deny publicly, operate covertly, allows the Taliban to manipulate narratives while protecting terror infrastructure.
Repeated exposures, including weapons depots in civilian hubs and terrorists’ presence near public infrastructure, confirm this entrenched pattern, sources said.
Taliban’s refusal to separate terrorists from civilians shows complete disregard for human life, prioritising survival of networks over the safety of people.
Pattern remains consistent, operate from civilian spaces, provoke escalation, then weaponise casualties as propaganda, according to sources.
Their own actions expose hypocrisy, with 52 Pakistani civilians martyred and 84 injured due to the Taliban’s unprovoked cross-border shelling, contradicting the victim narrative.
No independent evidence, no neutral verification, only scripted statements from Taliban mouthpieces, designed to shape perception.
This is not negligence; it is deliberate endangerment of civilians to shield terrorist infrastructure and sustain narrative control, sources noted.
Pakistan acts as a responsible state, conducting operations only against verified terrorist hideouts, networks, and hostile infrastructure.
Pakistan’s actions are guided by distinction, proportionality, and precaution, targeting threats while minimising civilian harm, according to sources.
Taliban hide behind civilians, mosques, and homes to protect terrorists, while Pakistan targets the very networks threatening regional stability.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries within their territory, particularly those associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but officials say these demands have not been acted upon.
Pakistan, on February 26, launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against terrorist groups operating from across the border.
