Pakistan Sets Up Special Committee To Identify, Deport Afghan PoR Cardholders

Residents reported that helicopters targeted militant hideouts in remote areas close to the frontier. No official statement has been issued by the federal government on the start of the operation in Bajaur, a former stronghold of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Saeedullah, a local government official, said the operation was not on a large scale and that only militant hideouts were being targeted to minimise civilian casualties. He estimated that more than 55,000 people, roughly 20,000 families, had fled their homes in recent days fearing the fighting.

Many of the displaced are sheltering in government buildings and schools, with authorities providing food and other basic supplies, he said.

Bajaur was the site of a major Pakistani military operation in 2009 against both domestic and foreign militants, which displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said officials are still gathering data on the displaced population, and that targeted operations against the TTP are continuing.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s army said it had killed at least 50 Pakistani Taliban fighters along the Afghan border in a four-day operation.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP militants and has called for their cooperation in tackling the group. The Afghan Taliban deny the TTP’s presence in Afghanistan, but international reports indicate senior TTP leaders are based there and directing operations from Afghan soil.

The military said the operation, which began Thursday, also led to the seizure of weapons, ammunition and explosives from the militants.

The statement that security forces remain committed to protecting the country’s borders and neutralising efforts to undermine the peace, stability and progress of Pakistan.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan has faced a sharp increase in cross-border militant attacks, particularly in the border provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies reported that 78 terrorist attacks took place in June, killing at least 100 people. The dead included 53 security personnel, 39 civilians, six militants and two members of local peace committees.

The think tank said 189 people were wounded that month, among them 126 security personnel and 63 civilians.

In total, violence and security operations in June left 175 people dead, including 55 security personnel, 77 militants, 41 civilians and two peace committee members, according to the report.

The BLA, which seeks independence for Pakistan’s Balochistan province, has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in the country. In March, the group said it was behind the hijacking of a passenger train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, an assault that left dozens of passengers and Pakistani soldiers dead.

In 2019, Washington also listed another anti-Pakistan Baloch militant faction, the Majeed Brigade, as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” entity.

Under the new designation, providing any form of support to the BLA within the United States is now a criminal offence. The previous designation targeted only the group’s financial assets.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated and most underdeveloped province, has seen at least five separatist uprisings since the country’s founding in 1947. Supporters of the movement accuse Islamabad of exploiting the region’s resources while neglecting its roughly 15 million residents.

Speaking Tuesday at a United Nations conference on landlocked developing countries in Turkmenistan, Mirziyoyev highlighted the strategic importance of the proposed Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway line. He said regional infrastructure projects such as this would help create a new commercial and economic space and build sustainable transport networks.

The Trans-Afghan railway aims to link Central Asia with South Asia, facilitating trade and boosting economic cooperation across the region.

In July, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry announced the signing of a feasibility study agreement for the railway line. The agreement was signed in Kabul between the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Works, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Transport, and Pakistan’s Ministry of Railways. The foreign ministers of Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban administration attended the signing ceremony.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the railway project would open a new transit corridor between Central and South Asia and play a key role in promoting regional trade and economic growth.

Speaking during a security meeting in Islamabad on Monday, Deputy Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said terrorist incidents in Pakistan’s border regions have intensified, resulting in mounting casualties among security forces.

He stressed that without full political backing from the federal government, security agencies would be unable to respond effectively to the growing threats.

Chaudhry said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are neighbours and brothers, noting Pakistan’s longstanding support for peace in Afghanistan. He added that Pakistan has made great sacrifices and it is now time for Afghanistan to fulfil its responsibilities.

The minister added that more than 90,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives in terrorist attacks over the years. He warned that the ongoing violence could have consequences beyond Pakistan’s borders if left unaddressed.

Pakistani authorities have repeatedly accused the Taliban administration in Kabul of sheltering members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the banned militant group responsible for numerous attacks across the country. The Taliban, however, denies offering sanctuary to the TTP.