By Esmat Sarwan
Pakistan has emerged as a central and highly sophisticated architect of terrorism in the region. The creation and use of proxy groups to advance illegitimate strategic interests has become a defining feature of its security posture. In recent months, Islamabad has turned its attention toward rebuilding and repositioning the transnational terrorist organization known as ISIS. At the same time, Pakistan’s major cities and its military-controlled mountainous areas are hosting a growing network of ISIS facilities.
From these locations, attacks in Afghanistan, elsewhere in the region, and even farther afield are planned and directed. The assault in Kandahar, the deadly concert hall attack in Russia, and the bombing in Kerman, Iran stand as examples in which the perpetrators, once identified, were trained and dispatched from inside Pakistan.
Several concrete cases drive the point home. Training centers in Balochistan, later destroyed by unidentified gunmen, form one illustration. Another is a major site in Jabar Mela in Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that was eliminated in drone strikes. Abdul Malik, a local ISIS commander, was killed in the Sur Ghar area of Khyber. Burhan, another ISIS figure, was shot dead by unknown assailants in Kasur District, Punjab. In Balochistan, Asim Baloch, a Pakistani national and senior ISIS-K operative from Mastung, was killed alongside a Tajik associate. The case of Mehmet Gören, a Turkish ISIS operative known as “Yahya,” makes that reality even harder to dismiss. Arrested by Turkish intelligence along the Durand Line between Afghanistan and Pakistan, he admitted to the existence of ISIS centers in Balochistan where recruits from multiple countries were trained for attacks abroad.
These episodes were reported by credible sources and, in several instances, quietly acknowledged by Pakistani authorities. A recent Al-Mirsaad report confirming the killing of eleven ISIS members in Bara strengthens that conclusion, showing that ISIS facilities remain active inside Pakistan and that the country continues to finance and coordinate the group’s regional operations.
Those killed in Bara were foreign nationals. The strike followed earlier attacks on ISIS hideouts and commanders in both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, forming part of a sustained pattern rather than an isolated incident.
Together, the repeated raids on ISIS sites inside Pakistan, along with the deaths of both local and foreign militants, show that the country has become ISIS’s latest gathering point in South Asia. Pakistan is bringing domestic and foreign ISIS elements together, reorganizing them, and preparing to deploy them as instruments of pressure against neighboring states and against popular movements at home. The objective is to destabilize the region and advance destructive strategic designs.
The continued presence of ISIS training facilities in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leaves little doubt about what is underway: the organization is being rebuilt and strengthened under Pakistan’s watch, and an extensive network of ISIS centers now operates across the country.
This trajectory should alarm both the region and the wider world. Governments across South Asia and beyond must act collectively to confront these destabilizing maneuvers and prevent regional security from being sacrificed for narrow strategic gain. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe: the region and the international community could once again face the violence and bloodshed that have defined ISIS’s brutal campaign.