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ISIS announces new Pakistan ‘province’
Move comes five days after terror group declared another new branch in India
Ben Farmer
May 16, 2019
ISIS has announced a new branch in Pakistan in a move analysts say is intended to boost recruitment for the flagging militants.
The Islamic militant group had previously claimed all its attacks in Pakistan in the name of the group's so-called Khorasan Province, which was founded in 2015 to cover "Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearby lands".
The new organisational structure was disclosed in two statements on Wednesday, claiming responsibility for killings in Pakistan. The militants claimed to have assassinated a police officer in Mastung, southwest Balochistan, and targeted rival Taliban fighters, killing one and wounding three, in Quetta. Both killings were attributed to a new “Pakistan Province” of the group.
Analysts said the group was trying to restructure and rebuild after the loss of its caliphate in Iraq and Syria. After the loss of its proto-state, the group is shifting towards a decentralised network of terror groups. Setting up local branches could be an attempt to bolsters its local profile and credentials to attract new recruits and existing militant groups in those areas.
Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist militant propaganda, said: “As IS seeks to build and restructure foundations of insurgencies across the globe after its losses in Iraq and Syria, it is attempting to recruit also from Pakistan, a country with an existing jihadi militant population.”
The disclosure of the restructuring came five days after ISIS declared another new branch in India.
Muhammad Amir Rana, a security analyst at the Pakistani Institute for Peace Studies, said: “We have seen recently that the Khorasan chapter was struggling here in this region and in Afghanistan, so I think that they have brought a change in strategy and are following Al Qaeda's strategy to create affiliates.
“After this announcement, I think that these self-radicalised militants and groups sitting on the fence waiting for a more attractive group may may feel more attracted in this new chapter of Daesh,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
ISIS arrived in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2015. The “caliphate” was at the height of its strength in Iraq and Syria and local militants began to pledge allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.
Pakistan's security forces say there is no organised ISIS presence inside the country, but the group has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings. The group said it killed more than 20 people last month in a fruit market bombing targeting the Shiite Hazara ethnic group in the city of Quetta.
In Afghanistan, ISIS has established a stubborn foothold in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, where it has become the focus of American counter terrorism. But it is also in conflict with the Afghan Taliban, with conflict between the rival militants forcing thousands of residents to flee the provinces. ISIS says it opposes the Taliban's tentative peace talks with the Americans.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/isis-announces-new-pakistan-province-1.862419
Move comes five days after terror group declared another new branch in India
Ben Farmer
May 16, 2019
ISIS has announced a new branch in Pakistan in a move analysts say is intended to boost recruitment for the flagging militants.
The Islamic militant group had previously claimed all its attacks in Pakistan in the name of the group's so-called Khorasan Province, which was founded in 2015 to cover "Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearby lands".
The new organisational structure was disclosed in two statements on Wednesday, claiming responsibility for killings in Pakistan. The militants claimed to have assassinated a police officer in Mastung, southwest Balochistan, and targeted rival Taliban fighters, killing one and wounding three, in Quetta. Both killings were attributed to a new “Pakistan Province” of the group.
Analysts said the group was trying to restructure and rebuild after the loss of its caliphate in Iraq and Syria. After the loss of its proto-state, the group is shifting towards a decentralised network of terror groups. Setting up local branches could be an attempt to bolsters its local profile and credentials to attract new recruits and existing militant groups in those areas.
Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist militant propaganda, said: “As IS seeks to build and restructure foundations of insurgencies across the globe after its losses in Iraq and Syria, it is attempting to recruit also from Pakistan, a country with an existing jihadi militant population.”
The disclosure of the restructuring came five days after ISIS declared another new branch in India.
Muhammad Amir Rana, a security analyst at the Pakistani Institute for Peace Studies, said: “We have seen recently that the Khorasan chapter was struggling here in this region and in Afghanistan, so I think that they have brought a change in strategy and are following Al Qaeda's strategy to create affiliates.
“After this announcement, I think that these self-radicalised militants and groups sitting on the fence waiting for a more attractive group may may feel more attracted in this new chapter of Daesh,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
ISIS arrived in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2015. The “caliphate” was at the height of its strength in Iraq and Syria and local militants began to pledge allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.
Pakistan's security forces say there is no organised ISIS presence inside the country, but the group has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings. The group said it killed more than 20 people last month in a fruit market bombing targeting the Shiite Hazara ethnic group in the city of Quetta.
In Afghanistan, ISIS has established a stubborn foothold in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, where it has become the focus of American counter terrorism. But it is also in conflict with the Afghan Taliban, with conflict between the rival militants forcing thousands of residents to flee the provinces. ISIS says it opposes the Taliban's tentative peace talks with the Americans.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/isis-announces-new-pakistan-province-1.862419
