2,410 terrorists killed in nine months, Interior Ministry tells NA

Security forces killed 2,410 terrorists in 5,143 intelligence-based operations during the first nine months of 2026, the Interior Ministry told the National Assembly on Wednesday, in figures reported by The Express Tribune. The operations also injured 806 terrorists and led to the arrest of 3,518 others, the ministry said.

The numbers were given alongside an account of the National Action Plan (NAP), the country’s main counter-terrorism strategy, and of what the government is doing about extremism online.

The National Action Plan

The NAP was launched in 2014 and reviewed in 2021. The revised version has 14 points and 245 specific measures. The ministry told the house, however, that efforts against extremist content online “had not received adequate attention”.

Its answer set out the legal tools. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) is the main law, and under it the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority has been set up. Action has been started against people accused of spreading anti-state propaganda, the ministry said.

Social media platforms are only partly complying

The ministry’s figures show how little of the content that the state asks to be removed actually comes down:

• Platforms complied with 23.7 per cent of requests from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and 47 per cent of those from the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).
• X removed 7.4 per cent of content flagged by state institutions, YouTube 1.9 per cent and Facebook 38 per cent.
• Punjab accounted for 97.7 per cent of all requests about extremist content, nearly all from its CTD. In Sindh and Balochistan the compliance rate was zero, despite requests from the authorities there.

The ministry said the platforms had not yet adopted the government’s rules, which leaves gaps in regulation. These are the ministry’s own figures and the reports do not include any response from the companies.

Nacta’s funding

The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) had asked for more than Rs2.98 billion for the current fiscal year but was allocated Rs1.3326 billion, less than half. The government is considering upgrading Nacta to the status of a division to improve coordination between the institutions working on counter-terrorism across the country.

Cancelled identity cards

In a separate answer, the ministry said more than 326,000 computerised national identity cards (CNICs) have been cancelled over the past five years, including 255,139 in 2026 alone. It attributed the cancellations to cases of Afghan nationals who obtained Pakistani cards by fraud and forgery, and said the cards were cancelled once the cases were found.

Religious scholars back the same line

On the same day, scholars, spiritual leaders and representatives of different faiths reaffirmed a religious ruling against terrorism, suicide attacks and extremism at a joint meeting of the National and Balochistan Provincial Paigham-i-Amn Committees. The meeting was chaired by Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council and coordinator of the national committee. The participants said suicide attacks and the killing of innocent people are forbidden in Islam and that no person or group may use violence against the state in the name of religion, sect or ideology. The declaration backed the security institutions in their fight against what it called Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan, and criticised the use of women, children and students in terrorism.

Background and why it matters

The figures come as the army and police keep up operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; see our report on ISPR’s account of nine terrorists killed in Kachhi and Wadh. The ministry’s figures are those of the state and cannot be checked independently from the reports we have. What stands out is the gap between operations and prevention: killing and arresting militants is one part, but the ministry admits the information war has not had equal attention, platforms mostly ignore takedown requests, and the agency meant to coordinate the effort received less than half the money it asked for. Whether Nacta is upgraded to a division, and whether the platforms accept Pakistani rules, will show how seriously this gap is treated.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and Dawn.