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Islamabad attack and the return of militancy

From deadly mosque attack in Islamabad to major coordinated assault in Balochistan

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Amber Shamsi

Pakistan Editor

Amber Rahim Shamsi is an award-winning multimedia journalist, political commentator, and free speech advocate with extensive experience in media development. She previously served as Director of the Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at IBA, where she spearheaded the launch of iVerify Pakistan, a UNDP-supported fact-checking platform. A former BBC World Service bilingual reporter, she has hosted three major current affairs shows on Pakistani news channels. She is also an IVLP and ICFJ Digital Fellow, a media trainer, and an advocate for press freedom and gender representation in journalism.

- YouTube

Pakistan is facing a renewed wave of militancy, from a deadly mosque attack in Islamabad to a major coordinated assault in Balochistan, where security forces say more than 200 militants were killed.

With the capital already on edge after last year’s suicide bombing at district courts, the timing of the latest attack, coinciding with the visit of Uzbekistan’s president, has raised fresh concerns about security and preparedness.

In this in-depth conversation on The Blue Newsroom, former Defence Secretary Lt General (retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi joins Amber Shamsi to examine what is driving this resurgence of violence. The discussion explores whether Pakistan’s foreign policy choices have had unintended consequences, and how governance failures, political instability, and internal security gaps are compounding the threat.

Looking beyond the headlines, the episode unpacks the limits of a purely security-centric approach and the difficult course corrections Pakistan may need to prevent further instability.

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