Pakistan witnessed its deadliest year in more than ten years in 2025, with conflict-related fatalities surging 74 per cent compared to the previous year, underscoring a deepening internal security crisis. According to data released by the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a lethal mix of suicide bombings, sophisticated US-origin weapons in militant hands, and intense counterterror operations pushed violence to unprecedented levels.

The PICSS report stated that 3,413 people were killed in terror-related incidents in 2025, a sharp rise from 1,950 deaths in 2024. The spike was driven by frequent suicide attacks and the enhanced firepower of militant groups using military equipment originally supplied by the United States and later abandoned during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.

When Pakistan’s Own Strategy Turned Against It

For decades, Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment—particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)—has been accused of using terrorism as a tool of state policy, especially against India. Islamabad’s long-standing patronage of extremist groups, including the Taliban, dates back to the anti-Soviet jihad of the 1980s and continued through the 1990s, when Pakistan was among only three countries to formally recognise the Taliban regime.

Even after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan was repeatedly accused of providing safe havens that allowed Taliban fighters to regroup and survive international counterterror efforts.

In 2025, however, the consequences of this strategy came home. Pakistan accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing Pakistani Taliban militants to operate freely across the border—a charge Kabul denied. Tensions escalated sharply after October border clashes killed dozens and injured hundreds, pushing bilateral relations to one of their lowest points in years.

Suicide Bombings and US Weapons Fuel Violence

PICSS data shows that of the 3,413 fatalities, 2,138 were militants, reflecting a 124 per cent rise in terrorist deaths due to intensified operations against the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other insurgent outfits such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). PICSS Managing Director Abdullah Khan said the soaring death toll was partly driven by a spike in suicide bombings and the widespread use of advanced US military hardware that flowed from Afghanistan into the hands of militant groups, significantly boosting their operational capability.

Civilian and Security Force Casualties Surge

The violence took a heavy toll on civilians and security personnel alike. At least 667 members of Pakistan’s security forces were killed, marking a 26 per cent increase and the highest annual figure since 2011. Civilian deaths reached 580, the worst toll since 2015, while 28 members of pro-government peace committees were also killed, highlighting how deeply militancy has penetrated Pakistani society. PICSS recorded 1,066 terror attacks in 2025, with suicide attacks alone rising 53 per cent to 26 incidents. Security forces conducted widespread intelligence-based operations, arresting around 500 militants, nearly double the number detained in 2024.

Afghan Border Tensions Intensify

The report followed official disclosures that Pakistan’s military carried out over 67,000 intelligence-based operations in 2025, killing 1,873 militants, including 136 Afghan nationals.Border tensions worsened after explosions in Kabul in October, which the Afghan Taliban blamed on Pakistan. Although a Qatar-brokered ceasefire has largely held, negotiations failed to resolve core disputes, and all border crossings have remained closed since October—paralysing trade and civilian movement. Islamabad has insisted that reopening the borders depends on written guarantees from Kabul that Afghan soil will not be used for attacks on Pakistan. Afghan authorities have not publicly responded to these demands.

A Grim Reckoning

By the end of 2025, Pakistan found itself trapped in a violent cycle largely of its own making—battling militant groups it once nurtured, facing unprecedented internal casualties, and dealing with strained relations with Afghanistan. The PICSS findings paint a stark picture of a country grappling with the blowback of decades of militant patronage, where the guns once aimed outward are now firmly turned inward.