Pakistan has conveyed three core demands to the Afghan Taliban during the talks that have been underway in Urumqi, China. Discussions are currently underway between the two sides based on a five-point formula to resolve the issues, according to a Dawn report.
The three demands put forward by Islamabad include Kabul formally declaring the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a terrorist organisation, dismantling its infrastructure, and providing verifiable proof of the action. These conditions sound eerily similar to what India had put before Pakistan last year, on April 23. Stopping all terrorism directed at India from Pakistani soil, with verifiable proof that it had been done. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced five actions against Pakistan as punitive measures.
The demands regarding TTP form the basis of Pakistan’s negotiating position, which may have hardened due to serious security concerns our western neighbour faces on its eastern frontier now. No Afghan government, including that led by the Taliban from 1996 to 2001, has ever agreed to accepting the Durand Line as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
TTP, BLA Attacks
For Pakistan, it is a question of existential dilemma that the Afghan Taliban, who were then nurtured and sheltered all over its territory, particularly the Haqqanis, have turned against it. The Taliban refusing to take orders from the Pakistani government, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) handlers, and their actions on the ground have upended all Pakistani plans.
The relentless battles that TTP has been waging against the Pakistani security forces have created more than a serious headache for the Pakistani government. Coupled with increased violence from various Baloch groups, the violence in Pakistan was recorded at its highest level in a decade during the year 2025. The data, ranging from 2013 to 2025, reveals that last year was the deadliest year for rebels in a decade. The rebels suffered their highest fatalities since 2015, and surged by over 120 per cent as compared to 2024, a year before, with October being their deadliest month (with 319 fatalities) as the security forces intensified nationwide operations, followed by November.
Some months ago, the UN experts had urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to commit to a permanent ceasefire. Significantly, they had also claimed that Pakistan had not published credible evidence that TTP attacks within its territory were directed or controlled by the de facto Afghan authorities. This implied that the Afghan Taliban had no direct role in arming or instigating TTP against Pakistan.
Fatalities, Injuries
Incidentally, the fatalities among civilians and security officials reduced this year by over 24 per cent and five per cent, respectively, compared to 2024. Also, 2025 was the first year since 2015 that, with their losses combined, the civilians and security officials did not account for the majority of fatalities in a given year.
Pakistan had recorded a significant drop in cross-border attacks and violence-linked fatalities after it closed down the border to Afghanistan on October 11, 2025. Attacks by rebels went down by almost 17 per cent in December, preceded by nine per cent decline in November.
Fatalities among civilians and security officials also fell in the last quarter of 2025, by nearly four per cent and 19 per cent each in November and December. These figures are based on data collected by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad.
With an almost 34 per cent surge in overall violence, the year 2025 went by as the most violent year for Pakistan in a decade. The country has suffered increased violence for five consecutive years since 2021, coinciding with the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. The year 2021 showed a 38 per cent higher rate of violence, over 15 per cent in 2022, a high 56 per cent in 2023, a whopping 67 per cent in 2024, and 34 per cent in 2025.
Decade’s Highest
As many as 3,417 violence-linked fatalities and 2,134 injuries among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws resulted from 1,272 incidents of violence. Last year marked another grim year for Pakistan’s security landscape.
The comparative data for 2024 and 2025 reveal a sharp escalation in terrorism and counter-terrorism-linked violence nationwide. With fatalities rising from 2,555 in 2024 to 3,417 in 2025, marking an increase of 862 deaths, or a roughly 34 per cent year-on-year surge in violence.
The most significant surge in violence was recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where the fatalities rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025, an absolute increase of 711 deaths, accounting for over 82 per cent of the net national rise and marking almost a 44 per cent year-on-year surge in violence in the province.
Balochistan also had an upward trend, with fatalities increasing from 787 to 956; an additional 169 deaths, which are nearly 22 per cent higher than the previous year’s figures.
The year turned out to be the deadliest year for the rebels in a decade. They accounted for most fatalities recorded, surpassing the fatal losses suffered by the civilians and security officials combined. October 2025 was recorded as the deadliest month for them, as the security forces intensified their operations, followed by November as their second-deadliest month.
Regional Impact
Violence remained heavily concentrated in the country’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and south-western Balochistan provinces. The two provinces accounted for over 96 per cent of all fatalities and almost 93 per cent of violent incidents recorded during 2025.
KP was the worst-hit region, suffering over 68 per cent (2,331 fatalities) and around 63 per cent (795 violent incidents), followed by Balochistan, accounting for 28 per cent (956 fatalities) and over 30 per cent (or 386 violent incidents).
With about 2,060 deaths as a result of at least 392 security operations, the rebels accounted for over 60 per cent of recorded fatalities. This surpassed the combined fatal losses among the civilians and security officials i.e., 1,357 fatalities (40 per cent of the total) suffered in around 880 rebel attacks.
The outlaws may have suffered the most of the fatalities in 2025, but the toll of injuries remained higher among civilians and security officials, suffering over 93 per cent of all injuries recorded, compared to 7 per cent among outlaws. The majority of the injuries were sustained by the civilians (1187 – 56 per cent), followed by security officials (793 – 37 per cent), and outlaws (7 per cent – 154).
Security Forces
Security forces remained the primary targets of rebels, resulting in 374 fatalities within the Army and Frontier Corps (FC). This toll included 22 high-ranking officers: one Lieutenant Colonel, 16 Majors, four Captains, and two Lieutenants. The rebels ambushing senior Army officers is a comparatively new trend witnessed in Pakistan. Additionally, 341 lower-ranking soldiers were killed, and over 400 were wounded. The police force suffered 216 casualties, including seven high-ranking officials (one SSP, three DSPs, and four SHOs), alongside 203 personnel killed and 265 injured.
Responsibility for these attacks was claimed primarily by the TTP (targeting 227 personnel; 121 fatalities, 106 wounded), followed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (87 killed, 124 wounded), the Balochistan Liberation Force (12 killed, 10 wounded), and ISKP (4 killed, 12 wounded).
