Fitna al-Hindustan, Khawarij unite to destabilise Balochistan, KP

Ag APP

By News Desk

RAWALPINDI: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt- Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry Friday reiterated that India, through its proxies, had been fomenting terrorism in Balochistan with focus on soft targets.

“We have credible information and evidence that India, through its proxies like Fitna al-Hindustan and Fitan al-Khawarij, is fomenting terrorism in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” the DG ISPR said while addressing a media briefing, along Interior Secretary Khurram Agha.

The spokesman for the armed forces said India had become the epicentre to destabilise the region and it was financing, planning, prosecuting and instructing terrorist activities in Pakistan.

He said Fitna al-Hindustan was targeting innocent people, including labourers, barbers, passengers, and now schoolchildren on the behest of their Indian masters, adding over 160 civilians including poor labourers and workers had been martyred by terrorists of Fitna al-Hindustan in Balochistan since April 12, last year.

Those martyred also include 40 civilians including 22 women and children in India’s coward attack on masajid and population on night of May 6 and 7 and over 20 passengers who were martyred in Jaffar Express tragedy.

Lt-Gen Ahmad Sharif also showed photos and videos of martyred and severely injured student children of suicide attack on a school bus on May 21 in Khuzdar. “This is terrorist and cruel face of India,” he said adding that 233 terrorists belonging to Fitna al-Hindustan had been killed in different encounters and intelligence-based operations during the ongoing year, as compared to 250 terrorists, who were eliminated during the whole year of 2024.

He said there have been 4,664 terrorist incidents across Pakistan, with 1,612 occurring in Balochistan. Security forces have conducted 93,515 counter-terrorism operations nationwide, including 52,887 in Balochistan, he added.

He said that in 2024, security forces killed 1,018 terrorists across the country, including 233 in Balochistan. So far in 2025, 747 terrorists have been killed, including 203 in Balochistan. Security forces have intensified their operations against militants.

He also pointed out that Pakistan had conducted over 73,000 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Balochistan in last seven months to eliminate terrorism and maintain peace in the province.

He said India’s escalation tactics intensified after Pakistan decisively closed illegal trade routes and curtailed the activities of anti-state elements.

He said that India is sponsoring terror through proxies like Balochistan Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which lacked the support of even 25 people.

To a question on the issue of missing persons, he stated that many claims were politically motivated, with BYC acting as a proxy for Indian interests in the region. “Half of terrorists after DNA tests are found as among missing persons,” he said.

He also pointed out that only on May 9 and 10, the terrorists of Fitna al-Hindustan undertook 33 attacks at different locations in Balochistan.

Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said Indian social media accounts as well as the electronic media were also on the forefront to stoke terrorism in Pakistan. He showed screenshots of numerous Indian social media accounts and video clips of the Indian media celebrating the terrorist activities in Pakistan, including the attack on Jaffer Express.

The DG ISPR also laid bare India’s sustained and systematic campaign of state-sponsored terrorism in Balochistan, revealing confessions from Baloch separatists who admitted to being exploited and radicalised by Indian proxies. He said India, through groups like Fitna al-Hindustan, has been targeting innocent civilians, including women, children, and students, in an attempt to destabilise Pakistan and weaken national resolve. He recalled that Pakistan presented multiple dossiers to expose India’s malign role — starting from the 2009 Sharm El Sheikh summit, to the United Nations in 2015 and 2019, and most notably with the capture and confession of Kulbhushan Yadav in 2016, a serving Indian naval officer caught orchestrating terror acts in Balochistan.

“More recently, local and international media have carried the confessions of surrendering terrorists who admitted to receiving funding and instructions from Indian handlers. On May 21, 2025, a horrific suicide attack on a school bus in Khuzdar further exposed the brutal face of Fitna al-Hindustan,” he said.

The DG ISPR also condemned India’s tactic of recruiting even young girls as suicide bombers, branding it as the darkest form of blackmail and cruelty.

“In the face of this terrorism, our resilience has only strengthened,” he stated, citing the example of a bereaved father who lost two daughters in a recent attack but remained unwavering in his patriotism. “Let us revive the spirit of Banyanum Marsoos, and fight Indian proxies with unity and determination,” he added.

Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif stressed that all elements of national power in Pakistan were working in synergy to crush terrorism and restore stability in Balochistan. He noted that the people of the province are increasingly realising that they are being manipulated in a proxy war, not a legitimate struggle for rights.

He said India’s growing frustration is evident in its reaction to Pakistan’s development successes in Balochistan, such as the Rekodiq gold mining project, the operationalization of Gwadar Port, the Green Pakistan agriculture initiative, and the Kachhi Canal.

“The bright, talented Baloch youth serving the nation at home and abroad is a thorn in the enemy’s side,” he remarked.

Responding to claims of Balochistan’s so-called deprivation, he dismissed them as hollow slogans funded by India. “Balochistan is and will remain an integral part of Pakistan. Baloch people are our beloved brothers and are part of every corner of our national fabric,” he said.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s stance on the Kashmir dispute, calling it an international issue that also involves China. “There can be no lasting peace in the region without a just resolution of Kashmir,” he asserted.

When asked about India’s threats to block Pakistan’s water, the DG ISPR said Pakistan would respond in accordance with the Prime Minister’s directives. “Only a madman would talk about cutting off another country’s water,” he said.

Interior Secretary Khurram Agha, speaking at the media briefing, revealed that preliminary investigations into the Khuzdar school bus attack confirmed it as part of a coordinated pattern of terrorism, backed by India and executed through the group Fitna al-Hindustan, operating under the patronage of Indian intelligence agency RAW. He said after the failure of India’s so-called Operation Sindoor, Indian proxies have now been instructed to intensify their attacks in Balochistan and beyond.

“The objective is clear: to sabotage development, instil fear, and derail the journey of peace and prosperity — an effort to replay the 1971 playbook,” Agha added.

However, he added that the people of Pakistan, particularly those in Balochistan, resolutely reject these nefarious designs. “The state of Pakistan possesses both the capability and determination to dismantle these terror networks and bring the perpetrators and their foreign handlers to justice,” he said.

He lamented that, having suffered heavy losses in attacks on hard targets, groups like Fitna al-Hindustan have now shifted to soft targets — including poor labourers, infrastructure, and tragically, even schoolchildren. “Targeting innocent children violates every moral and cultural code, especially the traditions of the Baloch,” he noted. Khurram Agha assured the nation that the federal and provincial governments, in full coordination with the security apparatus, are united in defeating these foreign-sponsored terrorists.

“These Indian-backed terrorists have no place in Pakistan or its national discourse. Our commitment is unwavering, our capacity is intact, and our response will be decisive.”

Khurram Agha said the prime minister had revamped the National Action Plan (NAP) to improve the nation’s struggle against terrorism.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Friday appreciated the United States’ constructive role in easing recent hostilities between Pakistan and India, acknowledging that Washington played a “very positive and important role” in preventing the region from tipping into a crisis.

“We appreciate the proactive diplomacy of President Trump and his administration in brokering the ceasefire,” said the Foreign Office spokesperson at the weekly press briefing. “Despite India’s violations in rhetoric and spirit, the ceasefire continues to hold, and Pakistan remains committed to its faithful implementation.”

Highlighting the three aspects of the ceasefire, the spokesperson said:

The truce, announced on May 10, 2025, is intact.

2. Direct communication channels between military officials through DGMOs are being used to maintain de-escalation.

3. Pakistan condemns India’s provocative rhetoric but remains committed to peace, while reserving the right to respond to any further aggression. On trade, the spokesperson acknowledged the United States as Pakistan’s top export destination and stressed ongoing consultations under the Prime Minister’s directives in light of new US sanctions.

On the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan reiterated that the treaty cannot be suspended or abrogated unilaterally and vowed to continue working with the international community to safeguard its water rights.

Responding to recent inflammatory remarks by the Indian Prime Minister in Rajasthan, the spokesperson said Pakistan “categorically rejects these baseless and provocative allegations,” calling them an attempt to stoke tensions for domestic political gain.

“Such rhetoric not only violates international norms but also reveals a dangerous mindset that undermines regional peace,” the spokesperson said. “India’s efforts to link Pakistan with terrorism are factually baseless and are a diversion from its own internal crises and human rights abuses in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).”

Pakistan called on India to act responsibly and to resolve disputes through peaceful dialogue and diplomacy. It reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful coexistence, warning that any aggression would be met with a resolute and proportionate response.

Separately, Pakistan told the UN Security Council Thursday that India’s military hit civilian areas, including homes and mosques, during its recent aggression in breach of the obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians.

“The rights to life, dignity, and security must remain sacrosanct, even amidst the horrors of war,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said in the course of a debate on: ‘Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’.

“Between 6 and 10 May, India committed blatant aggression against Pakistan, launching unprovoked missile, air, and drone strikes, under false pretenses and baseless allegations, in flagrant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and the UN Charter,” he told the 15-member Council.

Civilian areas were “deliberately targeted” by Indian bombs, resulting in the deaths of 40 civilians, including seven women and 15 children, and injuries to 121 more, including 10 women and 27 children, the Pakistani envoy said.

In contrast, he pointed out, Pakistan’s response was “responsible and measured,” aimed solely at military installations, and in line with the country’s inherent right to self-defence under the UN Charter.

With over 120 armed conflicts raging globally, the world was witnessing rising attacks on homes, hospitals, schools, water systems, and humanitarian workers; denial of humanitarian access; and the emergence of AI-powered weapons that kill without conscience, the Pakistani envoy said.

“From Gaza’s ruins to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), from the camps of Sudan to the streets of Haiti, civilians are not collateral damage, they are the epicentre of these tragedies.”

Highlighting that people in Indian-occupied Kashmir have endured over 75 years of systemic violence and repression under Indian occupation, Ambassador Asim said more than 100,000 have lost their lives, thousands disappeared without a trace, women have been subjected to sexual violence, and generations of children have grown up behind barbed wires and bunkers.

Over 900,000 Indian occupation forces continue to use excessive and indiscriminate force, extrajudicial killings, and collective punishment in what is one of the world’s most militarised zones, the Pakistani envoy told delegates. Plans to alter the demographic composition of the Indian occupied territory are being pushed by the occupying authorities. “The people of Jammu & Kashmir await the fulfilment of their right to self-determination, as enshrined in numerous Security Council resolutions.”

The UNSC strongly condemned the terrorist attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan, describing the act as “heinous and cowardly”.

In a statement released on Thursday, the UNSC expressed its “deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and the people of Pakistan”, while also extending wishes for “a speedy and full recovery” to the injured.

The Council reaffirmed that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, remains “one of the most serious threats to international peace and security”. Members of the Council stressed the importance of holding accountable “the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors” of such acts and called on all states to cooperate with Pakistan “in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions”.

The statement went on to reiterate the UNSC’s firm position that “any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”