Geneva: Pashtun political activist Fazal Ur Rehman Afridi has raised alarm over ongoing human rights violations, alleged state-sponsored terrorism, and the exploitation of natural resources in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Afridi urged the international community to investigate what he called “false flag operations” carried out by the Pakistani military under the guise of anti-terror campaigns.
Afridi accused the military of deliberately targeting innocent civilians, particularly Pashtun women and children, using drone strikes and F-16 fighter jets. “We are here to alert the global community to the continued military aggression in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These strikes are not targeting terrorists—they are targeting our people,” he stated.
He further alleged that more than 55,000 members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and their families have been secretly reintegrated into the region under a covert agreement, even as the government claims to be conducting operations against them.
“These military operations are a façade,” Afridi claimed. “The truth is, the TTP and the Pakistani army operate hand in hand. By day they wear military uniforms, and by night they act as Taliban fighters. The operations are simply a smokescreen to provide shelter to militants.”
Afridi pointed out that despite over 40 drone strikes in the region, not a single high-ranking TTP leader has been eliminated. Instead, he said, the local civilian population continues to suffer. “These attacks are being used to clear areas for the establishment of terrorist training camps, which are later used to export terrorism across borders,” he said.
Beyond security issues, Afridi also criticized the Pakistani military for what he described as systematic exploitation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s natural resources. He claimed that large tracts of land have been seized for military and commercial development, including cantonments, private housing schemes, and resorts.
“In Waziristan alone, around 700 kilometers of Chilgoza pine forests have been taken over and sold to foreign buyers, with profits completely bypassing the national treasury. This is both land theft and economic plunder,” he said.
Afridi also condemned the unauthorized extraction and export of valuable natural resources—such as oil, gas, electricity, chromite, and rare earth minerals—from the region. He particularly criticized an alleged deal with the United States that he says was signed without the consent of the indigenous Pashtun population.
“Selling our mineral wealth to foreign powers without our input violates international law and Pakistan’s own constitution,” he asserted.
