November 24, 2025
By Kaleem Ullah
LAHORE
Pakistan witnessed yet another major terrorist attack on Monday, targeting the Federal Constabulary (FC) headquarters in Peshawar. The incident occurred early in the morning, around 8 am, in the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in the deaths of three constabulary personnel and injuries to 11 others.
The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The incident comes at a time when Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in peace talks following a surge in militant attacks across KP, most of which have been claimed by the TTP. Pakistan alleges that TTP fighters find refuge in sanctuaries inside Afghanistan—a charge Kabul has repeatedly denied. The tensions have strained relations between the two neighbours and even resulted in cross-border clashes. As of now, talks held in Doha, Qatar, aimed at reducing friction have yielded no results. A second round of talks in Turkiye also ended without progress.
This report attempts to answer key questions by asking experts about the implications of the latest attack for peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan, its impact on security in KP and Balochistan—both of which border Afghanistan—and what residents of the affected areas want from the state.
Pakistan-based Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, who has been covering the war in Afghanistan for more than two decades, told Voicepk that the incident shows that the TTP “still has the capacity to carry out major and coordinated attacks.” He warns that each new assault linked to the group further hardens positions on both sides.
“Instead of cooperation on security, the narrative turns into blame and counter-blame, which only deepens mistrust,” Yousafzai notes.
According to him, Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing space to the TTP, while Kabul maintains that Pakistan’s problems are internal and rooted in its own policies.
“When both sides refuse to accept responsibility, the blame game gets louder, and ordinary people on both sides suffer the most,” he added.
He described the situation as a “dangerous cycle” in which attacks fuel accusations, tensions escalate, and militants find more room to operate—ultimately leading to further violence. “If this continues, bilateral relations will deteriorate even further, and the border regions will bear the brunt,” he cautions.
When asked about the implications of the attack for security in KP and Balochistan, Amir Rana, president of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) and an expert on counterterrorism and regional security, said that the incident of suicide bombing was highly significant. He said it underscores that the TTP and other militant groups remain active and retain the capacity to launch major attacks against security forces—even in the provincial capital—echoing patterns from the past.
Referring to the recent talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan on curbing terrorism and cross-border infiltration, Rana said the attack suggests that the pressure Pakistan is attempting to exert on the Afghan Taliban to deny safe havens to the TTP is “not yielding effective results.” Instead, he noted, militants appear to be “responding to the pressure through intensified attacks.”
Residents of the province also express deep concern over the deteriorating security situation and what they see as ineffective state policies. Rahim Wazir, a resident of Sheewa in North Waziristan and a member of the proscribed organisation PTM, told Voicepk that despite “21 major military operations and thousands of intelligence-based operations,” the state has failed to restore lasting peace.
“As a resident of Pakhtunkhwa, I believe the current strategy is not helping but actually strengthening terrorism,” he said. According to Wazir, public confidence has eroded due to what he described as the state’s “exception policy” towards certain militant elements. “The state keeps insisting that some groups are not terrorists but ‘good’ people. These kinds of policies bring no positive outcome and only make people lose trust.”
Wazir said residents expect a clear and uncompromising policy from the government. “If the state is serious about bringing peace to our area, it must first revise this exceptional policy, take all stakeholders into confidence, and support those who raise their voices for peace—instead of arresting or banning them for doing so,” he added.