ISLAMABAD:
Pakistani authorities have determined that a striking 70 per cent of terrorists involved in recent attacks carried out by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were Afghan nationals, a steep rise from the 510 percent recorded in earlier years, sources told The Express Tribune on Monday.
The startling revelation was made by Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq at a recent closed-door meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Afghanistan held in Dushanbe, according to the sources familiar with the development.
The disclosure led the Iranian representative to share his perspective, revealing that his country, too, was facing the similar problem. The Iranian representative, according to the sources, cited an attack on Chabahar port where out of 18 attackers, 16 were Afghan nationals.
The increased involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist attacks has set alarm bells ringing in Islamabad, where officials now see the growing Afghan footprint in the cross-border terrorism as a new and dangerous trend.
According to the sources, the increase percentage underscores the Taliban government’s failure or unwillingness to curb the use of Afghan soil by the TTP against Pakistan. Officials fear that the development could further strain the already uneasy ties between Islamabad and Kabul.
Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary to the TTP leaders and fighters, who regrouped across the border after Pakistan’s military operations in the former tribal areas. While the Taliban have publicly denied giving the group a free hand, Islamabad insists that the TTP safe havens in Afghanistan remain intact.
Tensions worsened in recent weeks after a string of deadly attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which Pakistan directly linked to militants operating from Afghanistan.
Diplomatic outreach
In a sign of growing concern, Pakistan is now stepping up diplomatic engagement with regional stakeholders to mount pressure on the Taliban regime. Sources confirmed that Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s Special Envoy on Afghanistan, will soon travel to Tehran and Moscow to discuss the matter.
The outreach reflects Islamabad’s strategy of seeking broader regional consensus to push the Taliban into acting decisively against the TTP. Both Iran and Russia, like Pakistan, remain wary of extremist groups exploiting Afghanistan’s fragile security landscape.
For Pakistan, the rising involvement of Afghan nationals in TTP attacks is a troubling escalation that not only complicates border security but also raises questions about Kabul’s commitments. Officials believe that unless the Taliban take tangible steps, the trend could spiral into a major flashpoint in bilateral relations.
