Pakistan has increased security and detained dozens of suspects after conducting air strikes on militant targets in Afghanistan, prompting fears of militant retaliation, officials said. Border skirmishes with Afghan forces were reported and recent attacks inside Pakistan killed several security personnel and civilians. Intelligence agencies have issued alerts for possible further attacks nationwide, while ACLED data shows a sharp rise in militant incidents since 2022.
Pakistan on High Alert After Strikes in Afghanistan; Dozens Detained Amid Fears of Militant Retaliation
Police officers and residents gather beside Pakistani flag-draped coffins of police officers who were killed following a terrorist attack on a police vehicle, during a funeral in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, February 24, 2026. REUTERS/Syed Basit
ISLAMABAD, Feb 25 (Reuters) — Pakistan has stepped up security measures and detained dozens of suspects as authorities brace for a possible surge in militant attacks following weekend air strikes inside Afghanistan, Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry said on Wednesday.
"Our forces are on high alert to combat any attacks. The militants often react whenever we hit their hideouts in Afghanistan," Chaudhry told Reuters.
Over the weekend, Pakistan launched air strikes on what it described as militant positions in Afghanistan, saying the targets were linked to a series of recent suicide bombings on Pakistani soil. Islamabad has accused Kabul of allowing militants to use Afghan territory as a safe haven; Afghan officials deny the charge and say militancy is an internal Pakistani problem.
Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire along the border on Tuesday, with each side accusing the other of initiating the clashes. The tense exchanges came as Pakistan reported several militant attacks at home in recent days, including an ambush on a police vehicle in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, that killed five officers and two civilians, and a suicide bombing at a checkpoint that killed two policemen.
Chaudhry said the recent attacks and retaliatory incidents underscored militants' cross-border linkages and that security forces had foiled several planned assaults in recent weeks. "We have averted several attacks and arrested a number of suspects, including Afghans," he added.
Security forces have intensified search-and-intelligence-driven operations. "We have arrested dozens of suspected militants, their handlers and their facilitators," the minister said. Multiple intelligence sources told Reuters that agencies have issued alerts warning of a potential rise in terror incidents in the coming days, naming urban centres, markets, security personnel and places of worship as possible targets.
An intelligence official said, "We have been given a strong caution about more terror attacks in our official communications. In this regard, we have almost doubled our search operations across Pakistan." Another official warned that while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are already experiencing attacks, militants based in Afghanistan could try to strike in Punjab and Sindh as well.
Militancy has risen in Pakistan since 2022. Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) shows attacks in Pakistan climbed nearly fourfold, to 2,425 in 2025 from 658 in 2022. Over the same period, attacks attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) rose to 838 in 2025 from 118 in 2022.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Lucy Craymer and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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