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Pakistan’s missile program is ’emerging threat’, top US official says

Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Finer said Pakistan has pursued “increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment, that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors.”

Published

2 years ago

December 20, 2024

Ariana News

A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an “emerging threat” to the United States.

Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer’s surprise revelation underscored how far the once-close ties between Washington and Islamabad have deteriorated since the 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Reuters reported.

It also raised questions about whether Pakistan has shifted the objectives of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs long intended to counter those of India, with which it has fought three major wars since 1947.

If those trends continue, Finer said, “Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States.”

The number of nuclear-armed states with missiles that can reach the U.S. homeland “is very small and they tend to be adversarial,” he continued, naming Russia, North Korea and China.

“So, candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Finer said.

His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile development program, including for the first time against the state-run defense agency that oversees the program.

The Pakistani embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Islamabad casts its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs as deterrents against Indian aggression and intended to maintain regional stability.

Two senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. concerns with Pakistan’s missile program have been long-standing and stemmed from the sizes of the rocket engines being developed.

The threat posed to the United States is up to a decade away, said one official.

Finer’s comments, the officials said, were intended to press Pakistani officials to address why they are developing more powerful rocket engines, something they have refused to do.

“They don’t acknowledge our concerns. They tell us we are biased,” said the second U.S. official, adding that Pakistani officials have wrongly implied that U.S. sanctions on their missile program are intended “to handicap their ability to defend against India.”

Finer included himself among senior U.S. officials who he said repeatedly have raised concerns about the missile program with top Pakistani officials to no avail.

Washington and Islamabad, he noted, had been “long-time partners” on development, counter-terrorism and security.

“That makes us question even more why Pakistan will be motivated to develop a capability that could be used against us.”

Pakistan has been critical of warm ties U.S. President Joe Biden has forged with its long-time foe India, and maintains close ties with China. Some Chinese entities have been slapped with U.S. sanctions for supplying Islamabad’s ballistic missile program.

It conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1998 – more than 20 years after India’s first test blast – and has built an extensive arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of lofting nuclear warheads.

The Bulletin of the American Scientists research organization estimates that Pakistan has a stockpile of about 170 warheads.

U.S.-Pakistani relations have undergone major ups and downs, including close Cold War ties that saw them support Afghan rebels against the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Pakistan also was a key partner in the U.S. fight against al Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and has been a major non-NATO ally since 2004.

But ties also have been hurt by coups staged by the Pakistani military, its support for the Islamic Emirate’s 1996-2001 rule and its nuclear weapons program.

Several experts said Finer’s speech came as a major surprise.

“For a senior U.S. official to publicly link concerns about proliferation in Pakistan to a future direct threat to the U.S. homeland – this is a mighty dramatic development,” said Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center think tank.

Related Topics:featured Military Missile Pakistan US

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Blast in Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan kills 11, injures 30

Published

10 hours ago

September 26, 2026

Ariana News

Eleven people were killed and 30 injured in a blast ‌in Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, emergency service Rescue 1122 said.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.

The blast occurred near Aman Mela in the Darazinda area of ‌the ⁠district, Rescue 1122 said in a statement.

Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the scene and began relief operations, ⁠providing medical assistance to the wounded and taking them to hospital, the service ⁠said.

Security incidents have continued in the district this month, including attacks ⁠involving the Pakistani Taliban.

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Imran Khan’s party postpones planned Islamabad march to October 4

Published

20 hours ago

September 26, 2026

Ariana News

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has postponed a planned long march from Peshawar to Islamabad ‌until October 4, the chief minister of the PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Sohail Afridi, told reporters on Friday.

PTI had planned to begin the march on September 27 to press for the release of Khan, who has ⁠been in jail since 2023. The PTI’s last large-scale protest two years ago ended in deadly clashes with security forces, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, Pakistan curbed access to its capital, Islamabad, by blocking major highways with shipping containers and deploying tens of thousands of security forces, ahead of the march planned by Khan’s supporters.

Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari, however, told Reuters ‌that ⁠although they had moved the planned date to October 4, they could launch the march earlier.

“We can now do it whenever we deem fit. The question is to the government, as ⁠to how long they’re willing to keep the country closed off?”, Bukhari said.

Authorities have detained three of Khan’s sisters and hundreds of ⁠party activists in recent days, citing a need to maintain public order.

Khan, 73, a former cricket star ousted ⁠by parliament in a 2022 no-confidence vote, has claimed to be a political prisoner.

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Saudi Grand Mufti tells troops to be ready to sacrifice their lives fighting Houthis

State TV has ⁠in recent weeks aired footage of an alleged Houthi strike on a mosque in the kingdom’s south, and authorities have also accused the Houthis of launching an attack on Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2026

Ariana News

Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority called on soldiers in the kingdom to be ready to lay ‌down their lives to fight the Iran-backed Houthis until the group is ousted from power, a statement posted on the Saudi state news agency said.

The rare and strongly worded message by Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan was addressed to soldiers stationed at the country’s borders and drew heavily on Quranic verses and recorded sayings of the Prophet Mohammad related to sacrifice and struggle in defence of God, Reuters reported.

It comes after weeks of escalating violence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis which has ⁠seen the Iran-backed group attack the kingdom with salvos of missiles and drones and Saudi Arabia respond with airstrikes.

Observers have been questioning whether Saudi Arabia will launch a broader military operation along with Yemeni government forces it backs.

“Protecting this great nation… and punishing anyone who seeks to lay a hand on even an inch of its territory are among the greatest duties and most virtuous acts of devotion, for which lives and souls may be sacrificed in seeking God’s pleasure,” said the statement, issued late Thursday.

Asserting the authority of the Saudi-backed internationally recognized Yemeni government over the entire country was “among the most pressing obligations,” it added.

Those government forces lost control of the vital Bab el-Mandeb waterway to the Houthis two weeks back, a blow to the kingdom, which has been mired in the conflict since ‌2015 ⁠after it launched an unsuccessful operation to oust the Houthis from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The recent fighting is the latest episode in 12 years of civil war in Yemen which had largely been frozen since a 2022 but has escalated again and has become linked to the wider Iran war.

“We ask God Almighty to grant you all his support, and to protect our countries and beloved Yemen from all harm. We also ask him to ⁠bring about the complete defeat of the Houthi group and those who assist and support them,” the statement said.

The Mufti’s letter adds to a growing religiously centered narrative by authorities in the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom aimed at discrediting the Houthis, who follow a different sect of Islam.

“It is incumbent upon you, brothers serving on the front lines, to ⁠remain constantly prepared to perform your duty, to obey the rulers and your field commanders, and to carry out orders with the utmost precision, as God Almighty commanded the companions of his Prophet to do,” the statement said.

“You are following in the footsteps of the Prophet’s companions, defending the sacred sites of Muslims.”