How US Weapons, Suicide Bombings Made 2025 Pakistan's Deadliest Year

Pakistan reportedly saw its deadliest year in over a decade in 2025, as conflict-related deaths climbed 74 per cent compared to the previous year. The high number of deaths was driven by suicide bombings and the use of US military equipment by Afghan terrorists, along with Islamabad's own counterterrorism operations against outfits like the Pakistani Taliban and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), according to data released by the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS). 

A report by PICSS said terror operations in Pakistan left 3,413 people dead – up from 1,950 in 2024.

When Guns Turned Inward

With records stretching back to 1947, Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), has used a consistent strategy of using terrorism as a state policy against India. For decades, Islamabad was considered a patron of the Taliban, providing shelter and support since the group's emergence in the 1990s. It initially backed the anti-Soviet mujahideen who later formed the group. 

In the 1990s, Pakistan was one of only three nations to recognise the Taliban regime. It was also the last to cut ties in 2001. Post US invasion, Islamabad was also accused of helping the Taliban terrorists, offering safe havens to regroup, which allowed the movement to endure despite counter-terrorism actions.

But 2025 saw the same guns turning inwards, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by Pakistani Tabiban terrorists, a claim Afghanistan's Taliban government denies. Tensions between the two neighbours have been high since October, following border clashes that killed dozens and wounded hundreds. 

'Suicide Bombing, US Weapons Contribute To Killings'

According to PICSS, among the 3,413 people who died in terror-related incidents, 2,138 were terrorists. The 124 per cent rise in terrorist deaths reflects intensive counterterrorism operations against the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, which is not part of Afghanistan's Taliban, the report said. 

Abdullah Khan, managing director of PICSS, said the high death toll was driven in part by a rise in suicide bombings and the terrorists' use of US military equipment left behind during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which later reached the Pakistani Taliban and other groups, increasing their operational capabilities.

Spike In Civilian Death

The 2025 fatalities also included 667 security personnel, a 26 per cent increase from the previous year, "the highest annual figure since 2011," Khan said.

He also said 580 civilian deaths were recorded, "the highest annual toll since 2015." In addition, 28 members of pro-government peace committees were reported dead

The Islamabad-based PICSS recorded at least 1,066 terrorist attacks in 2025, and suicide attacks rose 53%, with 26 incidents reported. It also said security forces arrested about 500 militants during intelligence-based operations last year, up from 272 in 2024, he said.

Khan said terrorist groups, including the TTP, claimed most attacks in 2025.

Increase in Afghan-Pakistan Clashes

PICSS released its report weeks after Pakistan's military spokesman, Lt Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, said security forces carried out 67,023 intelligence-based operations in 2025, killing 1,873 terrorists, who included 136 Afghan nationals.

The border violence between Pakistan and Afghanistan followed the Oct. 9 explosions in Kabul that the Afghan Taliban government blamed on Pakistan. A Qatar-mediated ceasefire has largely held since then, though the two sides failed to reach an agreement in November despite holding three rounds of talks in Istanbul.

All border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained closed since October, halting bilateral trade and the movement of people between the two countries.

On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the reopening of border crossings is linked to written assurances from Kabul that it will not allow its soil to be used for attacks in Pakistan. He said Pakistan recently allowed the United Nations to deliver relief supplies to Afghanistan, but trucks carrying the aid were stranded on the Pakistani side because Afghanistan did not open the gates from their side.

"A country in need of humanitarian assistance is unwilling to receive it. This is unprecedented – a country facing a humanitarian crisis is blocking humanitarian supplies," Andrabi told a news conference.

There was no response from Kabul to this claim, however.

In December, Pakistan's newly appointed armed forces chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, called on Afghanistan's Taliban government to choose between maintaining ties with Islamabad or supporting the Pakistani Taliban.