South Waziristan/Islamabad, October 19, 2025: A suspected suicide bomber arrested in South Waziristan has told security forces that Afghan-based militant networks are recruiting and training young people for attacks inside Pakistan, military sources said on Sunday.
Frontier Corps (FC) South carried out the operation that led to the detention of the suspect, identified in official accounts as Nimatullah, a resident of Kandahar province. In a confessional statement quoted by security officials, Nimatullah said he was a student at the Johriya madrassa in Qadhar and was being prepared for a suicide mission after months of training.
According to the statement, Nimatullah told interrogators that recruiters gathered some 40 youths in Khost before they crossed into Pakistan via Chivar and moved to a Taliban centre in South Waziristan. He said the group’s commander, named Umar Hamas in the confession, ran a three-month training programme that included a one-week course specifically on carrying out vehicle-borne suicide attacks and assaults on army checkpoints.
“I heard the call to prayer during training and realised that Pakistani soldiers are also Muslims. Attacking them with a suicide attack is forbidden,” Nimatullah reportedly told authorities, according to the security account.
The arrested man — whom officials said was between 18 and 22 years of age, along with about 20 other recruits in the group — alleged that the Afghan Taliban and a group described in security briefings as Fitna al-Khawarij were involved in indoctrinating and directing the youths. Officials said the confession amounted to evidence of cross-border recruitment and the use of underage Afghan youths for terrorism.
Security sources cautioned that the details of the confession are subject to verification as formal investigations continue. FC South said the operation disrupted a network preparing attacks and that further follow-up raids and intelligence work are under way.
The allegations, if confirmed, would add to long-standing concerns in Islamabad about militant groups using Afghan territory as a base to plan and launch attacks in Pakistan’s border regions. Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to prevent militant groups from operating on its soil and has cited cross-border militancy as a key national security threat.
Human rights and legal experts note that confessions obtained after arrest must be independently corroborated in courts of law, and that the use of underage recruits raises additional legal and humanitarian concerns. Officials did not immediately release evidence beyond the account of Nimatullah’s statement.
FC South and the military’s media wing had no further comment on the identity of other detainees or on whether any foreign-based handlers had been identified. Local and federal authorities said they would share details as the investigation progressed and any prosecutions were brought.
Analysts say the episode will likely sharpen scrutiny of recruitment networks that exploit madrassas, displacement and poverty to radicalise vulnerable youths, and intensify calls for cross-border cooperation on counter-terrorism — a perennial challenge amid fraught Pakistan-Afghanistan relations.
