Pakistan is grappling with an alarming surge in security incidents by Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The country’s security authorities now acknowledge that there are serious threats from the Islamic State (ISIS), which seeks to establish a foothold.
During a briefing to Pakistan’s Senate on Tuesday, January 2, the country’s Caretaker Minister of Interior, warned that ISIS, also known as Daesh, has engaged in terrorist activities targeting religious minority communities, aiming to incite sectarian strife in the country.
Both ISIS and TTP have been involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years. Pakistan had previously asserted that the Taliban in Afghanistan provided shelter and support to TTP leaders and fighters. However, it is the first time that the country’s authorities have publicly expressed concern about the infiltration of ISIS from Afghanistan and its operations alongside border regions.
Pakistan’s interior minister also reported substantial progress in completing the fencing along Pakistan’s western borders. However, he emphasized that both terror groups, particularly the TTP, are attempting to undermine these security measures by sabotaging the fence.
Pakistan started the construction of a fence along the controversial 2,630-km border with Afghanistan, known as the Durand Line, in March 2017 to curb illegal movements across the border. Despite grappling with challenges in difficult terrains like rugged mountains and densely forested valleys, the fencing is nearing completion. However, the surge in terror attacks, particularly after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the Pakistani government in November 2022, remains a pressing concern.
According to a report published by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies on January 1, there has been a staggering 65% surge in terrorism-related fatalities in Pakistan during the year 2023. The major contributors to this violence were identified as TTP, IS-K, and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). According to the report, these three groups carried out over 78 percent of the total terrorist attacks in 2023, which contributed to over 82 percent of terrorism-related deaths.
In a recent and deadly attack, members of ISIS targeted a political gathering held by the religious political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF), led by the conservative cleric Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman who has close ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The attack took place in a tribal district of Bajaur in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last July, resulting in the death of over 50 individuals including a regional JUIF leader, and injuring 200 others.
Previously, the Taliban claimed that Pakistani nationals were involved in ISIS attacks in Afghanistan. Last year, the longtime spokesperson for the regime, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed that “18 Pakistani members of Daesh, who were carrying out explosions and attacks in our territory, were killed and dozens of them were captured alive in different areas of Afghanistan, all the documents and evidence are with us.”
The Taliban in Afghanistan has continuously tried to downplay the ISIS threats in Afghanistan and has repeatedly pledged not to permit any terrorist organizations to use Afghanistan’s territory for attacks against other countries. However, last year, the UN Security Council expressed concern about the presence and activity of more than 20 terrorist groups, including ISIS and Al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan. Members of the council warned that the operational capabilities of ISIS affiliates have increased in the region, with the group becoming more sophisticated in its attacks against the Taliban and international targets.
