ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday security forces killed 2,597 militants in more than 75,000 counterterrorism operations in 2025, describing the year as “landmark” in the country’s long-running fight against militancy, even as violence claimed the lives of 1,235 civilians and law-enforcement personnel.
The assessment comes as independent Pakistani research groups reported a decline in militant attacks and fatalities in the final months of the year, following Islamabad’s decision to shut parts of its border with Afghanistan in October amid heightened security concerns.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of allowing banned armed groups — including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — to operate from its territory, blaming the Taliban-led government in Kabul for facilitating attacks inside Pakistan. Afghan authorities deny the allegations.
Highlighting the scale of operations, military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said security forces conducted 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) during the year.
“The past year was a landmark and consequential one in the war against terrorism,” Chaudhry said while addressing a news conference at the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
