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Islamabad, September 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A recent report has linked the latest militant violence in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to what it describes as a longstanding policy of selectively tolerating or supporting militant groups for strategic purposes.
The report by Khalsa Vox examined the recent attack in Kohat district, where an explosives-laden vehicle reportedly rammed into a mosque inside the Old Police Lines, killing dozens of police personnel and civilians and injuring more than 100 people.
According to the report, the incident was not an isolated development but reflected the consequences of militant networks that, it alleged, were allowed to operate for years because they were viewed as strategic assets.
“For decades Pakistan's security establishment distinguished between 'good' and 'bad' militants. Groups useful against India or in Afghanistan were sheltered, funded, or at least tolerated,” the report said.
It further alleged that networks involved in recruiting, training and moving fighters across the Durand Line were never completely dismantled and gained greater operating space following the Afghan Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
The report specifically referred to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied commanders, including Hafiz Gul Bahadur, alleging that they were able to reorganize with access to sanctuary, weapons and ideological support in Afghanistan.
The report argued that Islamabad is now confronting militant groups and raising concerns over sanctuaries across the border while, according to its assessment, continuing to deal with factions that had previously received varying degrees of official tolerance.
Discussing the Kohat attack, the report said the target was Pakistani security personnel inside a police compound rather than a foreign diplomatic or military facility. It argued that an attack involving a vehicle bomb and subsequent assault would require planning, explosives, reconnaissance and local facilitation.
The report linked the escalation in militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2021 to a shift in the nature of attacks, saying police and military installations have increasingly been targeted rather than violence remaining confined to remote checkpoints.
It also said responsibility for attacks has been claimed by alliances involving former TTP commanders, remnants of Lashkar-e-Islam and other militant groups that, according to the report, had previously benefited from different levels of official tolerance.
The report noted that Pakistani authorities refer to the TTP as “Fitna al-Khawarij”, but argued that the term does not address what it described as the deeper issue of militant infrastructure developed and tolerated over an extended period.
On Pakistan's accusations concerning militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan, the report said cross-border movement and Afghan-origin attackers were relevant factors but argued that they did not fully explain how an explosives-laden vehicle could reach a mosque located inside a police compound in Kohat.
It attributed the vulnerability to shortcomings in intelligence, perimeter security and political decision-making within Pakistan, while maintaining that militant networks developed under earlier policies had become difficult for the state to control.
The report's assessment comes amid continuing concerns over militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the wider security situation along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.