Security forces and law enforcement agencies arrested a former member of the Afghan National Army (ANA) for allegedly carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan. Additional Inspector General (AIG) Abbas Ahsan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police stated during a media briefing on Wednesday that the suspect, identified as Hikmatullah alias Hamza, was captured during an intelligence-based operation in the Tirah valley of the Khyber district.
The suspect was arrested on November 7. AIG Abbas Ahsan claimed that Hikmatullah had served in the Afghan National Army before joining militant organisations. He further stated that the "Kharji" had been associated with several groups, including the banned Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and had allegedly confessed to carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan.
According to AIG Abbas Ahsan, Hikmatullah hails from Mangyar village in the Chamkani area of Afghanistan’s Paktia province. The officer claimed that Hikmatullah received three months of military training and three months of commando training with the ANA. After the ANA was dissolved, Abbas said the suspect began using his skills in various madressahs.
From the arrest, AIG Abbas Ahsan stated, "we have learned who his facilitators are here, who has been assisting him, who his facilitators in Afghanistan are, where he received training and where he planned to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan."
Mehmood Jan Babar, spokesperson for the designated areas, who was also present at the briefing, stated that Afghan soil was constantly being used against Pakistan. Babar claimed that Hikmatullah had been planning similar attacks and asserted that "Pakistan has always presented its case before the world, along with evidence." He added, "It is not just one terrorist, but a whole series, a chain that shows no sign of coming to an end. They take advantage of the cover of darkness, come to Pakistan and try to plan [terrorist activities]." Babar further asserted: "But they do not know that Pakistan’s sons are ready and waiting to welcome them on its soil."
The arrest comes amid strained ties between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad says are used for attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have avoided taking a categorical position on the TTP and other groups, while rejecting Islamabad’s allegations that Afghanistan is being used as a base for attacks against Pakistan.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in cross-border terrorist incidents, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan recorded its highest monthly number of militant attacks in 12 years during September 2026.
In response to major terrorist attacks in KP on Sept 21, Pakistan conducted "calibrated" airstrikes in the border region with Afghanistan against terrorist hideouts, with the government saying more than 28 terrorists were killed. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described the action as part of Operation Ghazab lil Haq, which was launched on the night of Feb 26 in response to unprovoked cross-border firing by the Afghan Taliban. Days later, Pakistan shot down eight drones launched from across the border that had entered Pakistani airspace near the Torkham border and Kohat. It was also reported that the Afghan Taliban engaged in unprovoked firing the night before near Kurram as security forces foiled an attempt by terrorists to cross into Pakistan.
AIG Abbas Ahsan stated that further measures were being taken against drone attacks by terrorists and that anti-drone systems would be installed within the next six months. Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that Washington has "heard" Pakistan’s concerns about terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and that if there was a productive role for them to play, they would do so.
