Bajaur – Recent security operations in Bajaur have uncovered secret tunnels dug inside residential houses by militants linked with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to sources, the tunnels were used both as hideouts and for storing weapons. Officials say the discovery is clear proof that the TTP militants exploited civilian areas for their activities. Large caches of weapons and the underground passages were seized and presented publicly as evidence.
Authorities emphasized that using civilians as human shields is a cowardly tactic of the militants, endangering innocent lives while exposing their true intentions. Experts note that the discovery confirms how militants systematically used local homes to sustain operations, with the ultimate aim of weakening state institutions and spreading fear in society.
Attacks Targeting Schools and Civilian Spaces
The danger extends beyond Bajaur. In Lakki Marwat’s Paharkhel Pakka village, TTP militants gathered in a populated area, warning locals to stay indoors before planting and detonating explosives. The blast severely damaged a Government Girls’ Primary School. This pattern of embedding inside civilian communities has been repeated elsewhere, in Bajaur and Waziristan, videos have surfaced showing fighters occupying mosques and community guesthouses as hideouts and storage depots.
In Tirah valley, an explosion at a bomb making factory linked to the TTP faction Tehreek-e-Lashkar-e-Islam Pakistan (TLIP) destroyed five nearby houses, killing 25 people, 14 militants and 10 civilians. “The terrorists were using the civilian population as human shields, resulting in collateral damage,” a police officer explained. Days earlier in Baka Khel, Bannu, a militant commander had converted PTI leader Shah Muhammad Wazir’s jirga hall into a militant hub, where another accidental blast caused extensive damage.
Narrative Battles and Political Divide
While militants exploit public spaces for their operations, political narratives have complicated counterterrorism efforts. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition lawmaker Sohail Afridi claimed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly that civilians were killed in airstrikes, a charge echoed by PTI’s Iqbal Afridi to AFP, where he alleged that “23 people were killed in security forces’ shelling.” Officials, however, argue that such statements overlook the ground reality of militants embedding themselves within civilian areas, making operations increasingly complex.
Terrorists are also using Afghan refugee camps inside Pakistan for logistics and recruitment, with both TTP and Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) benefitting from these networks. In response, Pakistan has initiated a gradual but firm repatriation process to dismantle these logistical and human networks.
Analysts warn that domestic political instability and a divided narrative provide space for militant propaganda. Groups like PTI, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), and Awami National Party (ANP) have been accused of spreading ambiguity on state counterterrorism measures. Experts stress that what is needed now is political unity: a clear and unambiguous joint declaration of zero tolerance against the militants, and their ideological facilitators. Without such unity, they caution, militants will continue exploiting the confusion to destabilize the state.
