A recent Islamabad seminar reframed Pakistan’s counter-terrorism challenge, emphasizing that its threats are now increasingly transnational rather than purely internal. Consequently, combating this requires a mix of national resilience and international cooperation. Having lost over 90,000 lives and $100 billion, Pakistan’s immense human and economic sacrifices underscore this critical regional reality.
Yet despite these sacrifices, the threat has mutated, not ended. The seminar correctly identified two distinct but interconnected challenges that define today’s landscape: the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in Balochistan.
While their ideologies and geographies differ, their tactics, networks and objectives converge to destabilize Pakistan. Disrupting their networks and preventing their cross-border movement is therefore central to any effective strategy. This brings us to the most critical point raised by speakers: the issue of terrorist sanctuaries and cross-border networks. These sanctuaries remain the single biggest obstacle to regional peace. Panelists were unanimous in stressing the need for verifiable action to ensure Afghan territory is not used against Pakistan.
The failure of the Afghan Taliban to honour their commitments under the Doha Agreement was highlighted in stark terms, with over 20 terrorist organizations still operating from Afghan soil after the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.
Diplomacy must now translate into measurable outcomes. Declarations are not enough. What is needed is meaningful engagement, credible commitments and effective implementation. Pakistan cannot do this alone. The seminar’s call for international support on diplomatic and kinetic fronts, timely intelligence-sharing and technological cooperation is both timely and justified. Terrorim today is not fought with guns alone. The gathering drew attention to a dangerous new dimension: the growing exploitation of digital platforms, encrypted communications and modern weaponry left behind in the region by terrorist groups. They are radicalizing youth online, raising funds through illicit networks and coordinating attacks with sophistication. Countering this requires stronger counter-narratives, cutting-edge intelligence capabilities and a coordinated global response.
Most importantly, participants agreed on a fundamental truth that is often forgotten: sustainable counter-terrorism requires more than kinetic operations. Military action can clear an area, but it cannot win peace. Long-term peace requires effective governance, the rule of law, political inclusion and public trust. When people trust the state, when they have a stake in the system and when justice is swift and fair, the vulnerabilities that terrorist organizations exploit begin to close. Countering extremist recruitment starts in the classroom, in the courtroom and in the local Jirga, not just on the battlefield.
The seminar concluded with a message that should resonate beyond Islamabad. Terrorism is not just Pakistan’s problem. It threatens regional stability, economic connectivity and collective security. From CPEC to Central Asian trade routes, no vision of regional prosperity can succeed without peace. Pakistan has shown it has the will to fight.
It continues to strengthen its own counter-terrorism capabilities while pursuing peace in the region. But the world must also show it has the will to support. A united international response, based on verifiable actions and shared responsibility, is no longer an option – it is a necessity.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
