By Riaz Hussain :
Peshawar — Security experts say that the recent terrorist attacks targeting police in Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Peshawar, Jamrud, and Bannu districts may be a reaction to fresh military and intelligence operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the border areas.
Security analyst and journalist Haq Nawaz Khan said that the latest coordinated armed assaults on police in several districts could be retaliatory actions linked to the Bajaur operation. He added that despite the growing threat, the provincial government is being accused of failing to take adequate measures to prevent further terrorist attacks. According to him, ground reports indicate that displaced families are facing extreme heat without adequate facilities, and there are also accounts of civilians being killed or trapped during the operation.
Haq Nawaz Khan stressed that neither the provincial nor federal government has publicly taken responsibility for the operation, nor have they taken concrete steps to ensure civilian safety. He noted that whenever armed operations have been launched in the past, they have been followed by retaliatory attacks in other regions.
Security officials said that on Thursday night alone, five police personnel were killed and another five wounded in terrorist attacks in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to security forces, based on intelligence reports, mid-level militant commanders have been killed in Bajaur, Bannu, and North Waziristan; militant supply routes have been disrupted; and hideouts have been destroyed. Experts say this pressure has forced militants to abandon holding territory and instead conduct “hit-and-run” attacks — a tactic with high psychological impact aimed at undermining public confidence.
A senior security official stated that simultaneous attacks in different locations are intended to keep security forces heavily engaged and to discourage them from carrying out further operations. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the recent attacks.
These attacks came just days after security forces decided to launch operations in the Bajaur and Khyber districts. The decision followed the failure of peace talks between the Bajaur Peace Committee and militants. Tribal elders had demanded the removal of militants from the area, but according to officials’ estimates, there are about 300 militants in two areas of Mamond Tehsil in Bajaur and more than 350 in Khyber.
The operation in Bajaur, code-named Sarbakaf, began in late July to destroy suspected hideouts near the Afghan border, displacing tens of thousands of people. According to government figures, 1,497 men, 1,552 women, and 3,558 children are living in government shelters, while 2,497 others are in temporary camps at the sports stadium. Registration is ongoing for nearly 20,000 displaced families.
Although Pakistan’s security apparatus is now considered more robust than during the 2007–2014 militant wave — thanks to the updated National Action Plan and better coordination between the army, police, and intelligence agencies — experts say weaknesses remain.
Haq Nawaz Khan explained that police posts in border areas have weaker defensive capabilities than army posts, some stretches of the Afghan border remain open to infiltration, and urban centers like Peshawar are soft targets due to population growth and overlapping security jurisdictions.
These attacks come at a time when terrorism incidents are once again on the rise across the country. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, there were 78 terrorist attacks in June alone, killing at least 100 people. Officials say the threat has steadily grown since 2021.
