Top terror victim

Topping the Global Terrorism Index is not a distinction any country seeks, but it is one that Pakistan must now confront with full honesty. The Institute for Economics and Peace has ranked this country first among 163 nations - above active war zones, above states in open collapse. At a moment when global terrorism deaths fell by 28%, Pakistan recorded 1,139 killed and 1,045 attacks in 2025 alone, the sixth consecutive year of rising fatalities. These numbers describe a state of sustained national emergency, and they demand a response commensurate with that reality.

TTP is at the core of this crisis. Responsible for 56% of all terrorism-related deaths last year, carrying out 595 attacks, the group has expanded its reach and escalated targeted assassinations. The external dimension of this crisis is real and must be named. The TTP operates under Taliban patronage from Afghan territory. The BLA's operational sophistication - simultaneous strikes across nine districts of Balochistan - emerges from India's covert role. Pakistan is absorbing violence that is being organised and financed beyond its borders, and the international community's selective amnesia on that point is a scandal of its own.

This is precisely why the demand for zero tolerance has become a necessary existential position. Internal stakeholders now seem aligned on the fact that no militant organisation should be offered negotiations while it is actively killing Pakistani citizens. That alignment must extend beyond the border. Afghanistan must face sustained diplomatic and economic pressure for harbouring TTP on its soil. While cross-border attacks have had to be met with a swift, proportionate military response, Pakistan must also press its case forcefully on the international front. Unfortunately, the ranking serves as the final, unambiguous signal that half-measures have run their course.