ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s security forces killed 2,410 terrorists in 5,143 intelligence-based operations in the first nine months of 2026, the Interior Ministry told the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The operations also left 806 terrorists wounded and led to the arrest of 3,518 others, according to figures the ministry presented with details of the National Action Plan, the country’s main counter-terrorism strategy, The Express Tribune reported. The plan, launched in 2014 and revised in 2021, has 14 points and 245 measures.
Platforms ignore takedowns
The ministry admitted that curbing extremist material online had not received enough attention. Social media companies complied with 23.7% of removal requests from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and 47% of those from the Counter Terrorism Department. X removed 7.4% of the content flagged by state institutions, YouTube 1.9% and Facebook 38%, it said, adding that the platforms had yet to adopt the government’s rules.
Punjab accounted for 97.7% of requests about online extremist content, almost all of them from its Counter Terrorism Department, while compliance in Sindh and Balochistan was zero.
Nacta short of funds
The National Counter Terrorism Authority asked for more than Rs2.98 billion this fiscal year but was given about Rs1.33 billion, the ministry said, adding that the government was considering upgrading Nacta to a full division.
255,000 CNICs cancelled this year
In a separate reply, the ministry said more than 326,000 computerised national identity cards had been cancelled in the past five years, 255,139 of them in 2026 alone, compared with 624 in 2025, about 8,500 in 2024, 117 in 2023 and 62 in 2022. It said the cards had been obtained by Afghan nationals through fraud and forgery.
