Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) say an Afghan army member arrested in Pakistan was detained on November 7 in the Tirah valley of Khyber district. Additional Inspector General Abbas Ahsan told a media briefing on Wednesday that the man, Hikmatullah alias Hamza, had allegedly carried out terrorist activities in Pakistan. These are police allegations, and they have not been independently confirmed.
Police describe the suspect as a former member of the Afghan National Army (ANA), the Afghan national army, which police said was later dissolved. They said he joined militant organisations after leaving the force. The arrest was made in a police intelligence-led raid in Khyber district.
Who police say the suspect is
Abbas said Hikmatullah comes from Mangyar village in the Chamkani area of Paktia province in Afghanistan. While in the ANA, he reportedly received three months of military training and three months of commando training, police said. After the army was dissolved, he allegedly used those skills at several madressahs, or religious seminaries.
Police said he was linked to several groups, including the banned Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and had confessed to terrorist activities in Pakistan. Officials use the term Fitna al Khawarij for militants who belong to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group Pakistan says uses Afghan territory for attacks.
Reaction and wider tensions
Mehmood Jan Babar, spokesperson for the designated areas, also addressed the briefing. He said Afghan territory was being exploited against Pakistan and that Hikmatullah had been planning similar attacks. Babar argued that Pakistan has long put its case to the world, backed by evidence, and said militants keep slipping into the country under cover of night.
Relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul have been strained for several years. Pakistan has urged Kabul to dismantle militant hideouts on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the TTP, which Islamabad says are used for attacks inside Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have avoided a firm position on the TTP and reject claims that Afghanistan serves as a base for attacks on Pakistan. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington has heard Pakistan's concerns about militancy coming from Afghanistan, and that it would play a productive role if one were possible.
What happens next
Police said the arrest has helped them identify who assisted the suspect in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and where he trained. Further steps, including any court proceedings, have not been announced. It is also not yet clear how the Afghan Taliban will respond to this specific case, which police have presented as one more example of militants operating across the border.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Khyber district ke Tirah valley mein police ne aik saabiq Afghan army member, Hikmatullah alias Hamza, ko 7 November ko giraftar kiya. Police ka kehna hai ke wo dehshat gardi mein mulawwis tha aur us ne khud iqrar kiya hai, lekin yeh sab abhi police ke dawe hain. Aam shehri ke liye fori tor par qeemat, bijli ya safar ke qawaid mein tabdeeli ka ishara nahi hai. Lekin sarhad par aman aur Pakistan-Afghanistan taluqat par nazar rakhna ahem hai.
