Afghan national arrested in Tirah Valley for plotting terrorist attacks in Pakistan: K-P police

Additional IG says terrorist confesses to training suicide bombers, trained in Afghan national army

PESHAWAR:

Law enforcement agencies and security forces arrested an Afghan national involved in planning terrorist attacks in Pakistan during a joint Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in Tirah Valley on November 7, Additional Inspector General Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Abbas Ahsan said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Information Secretary Area Development Secretariat (ADS) Mahmood Jan Babar, Ahsan identified the suspect as Hikmatullah, alias Hamza, son of Noor Mohammad, and said he had been arrested on November 7 in the Tirah Valley near Peshawar during an operation conducted jointly by security forces and police.

“The arrest was made through human intelligence, electronic surveillance and other intelligence resources,” he said, adding that the suspect belonged to Afghanistan's Paktia province, from the Chamkaniye area and village of Mangiyar.

Ahsan said the suspect had served in the former Afghan national army, where he received three months of military training and three months of commando training. After the Afghan army was dissolved, he used his expertise at different madrassas, resumed training and established contacts to facilitate terrorist attacks in Pakistan, the AIG added.

“He also prepared a suicide bomber,” Ahsan said, identifying the student as Akrama, whom the suspect had trained at the Khalid bin Waleed madrassa near Jalalabad.

The terrorist had links with the former Gul Bahadur group and had also served as a security guard for its commander, Mansoor, he said.

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Ahsan said the suspect's interrogation had revealed the identities of his facilitators in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the places where he had received training and the locations where he had planned attacks in Pakistan.

During the press conference, officials played a video statement attributed to the arrested suspect. In the recording, Hamza said he had studied with a religious scholar for a year before starting to teach at a madrassa. He also said he had met Akrama in Jalalabad and prepared him for a suicide attack.

“I was injured during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan,” he said in the video, adding that he was being treated well in Pakistan.

Additional IG (P) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Information Secretary Area Development Secretariat hold a press conference on the apprehension of an Afghan terrorist in an intelligence-based operation.#KhyberPakhtunkhwa #IntelligenceBasedOperation #CounterTerrorism #Security… pic.twitter.com/Oht3DirQN5

— Pakistan TV (@PakTVGlobal) November 11, 2026

Information Secretary ADS said Afghan territory was being used for terrorism and that terrorists tried to take advantage of darkness to enter Pakistan and carry out attacks.

“Pakistan has always presented its case before the world. Today, we have achieved success with the arrest of an Afghan terrorist who was planning attacks in Pakistan,” Babar said.

He said the arrested suspect was not an isolated case and that such networks continued to operate. “These people take advantage of the cover of darkness and enter Pakistan to carry out attacks, but they do not realise that the sons of Pakistan are waiting for them,” he added.

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Babar said security forces were conducting extensive operations against terrorists. He added that anyone attempting to enter Pakistan to carry out attacks would find their way blocked, as security forces, society and the government stood united against them.

Terrorism is a growing problem for Pakistan, with the number of attacks rising every year since 2022, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a global monitoring organisation. Data from ACLED shows attacks in Pakistan rose nearly fourfold to 2,425 in 2025 from 658 in 2022.

The scale of the threat continued to grow in 2026. Two security reports presented to the federal cabinet in October showed that terrorist incidents in K-P had increased by 195 per cent between March 2024 and September 2026.

The reports also found that 73 per cent of attacks recorded in the province during 2026 had targeted police and security personnel, while the use of drones and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had emerged as growing threats.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of allowing the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.

A United Nations Security Council monitoring report published in February 2026 supported Islamabad's concerns, saying TTP attacks originating from Afghanistan had increased and that the group was being afforded greater liberty and support by Afghanistan's de facto authorities.

The report also noted that Al Qaeda continued to provide training and support to TTP, while the group had acquired advanced weapons, including night-vision equipment and drone systems.