3 weeks ago
ISI plans to attribute Lashkar attacks to ISKP in Kashmir
There were two scary attacks recently in a part of India called Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian security officers looked into them and believe a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind them.
They also think Pakistan's spy agency told Lashkar to stop saying they did it.
Instead, the spies want another group called ISKP to take the blame.
The security officers say this is a trick to confuse people and stay hidden.
ISKP is a very small group in that area and mostly uses the internet to convince people, not real attacks.
Lashkar is the one actually doing the attacks on the ground.
Lashkar and ISKP are already working together in other places like Balochistan.
India's security officers say they are watching closely and will not let terrorism come back in a big way.
Two back-to-back terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir raised concerns about a possible resurgence of terrorism, but security agencies are confident they do not signal a sustained trend.
The recent strikes were claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Intelligence sources say Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has instructed LeT to carry out attacks while attributing responsibility to Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
ISKP has a very small presence in Jammu and Kashmir and has focused more on online radicalisation than ground-level activities.
LeT has shifted much of its training facilities near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and has been conducting joint operations with ISKP operatives, officials said.
Lashkar and ISKP groups have already been battling together in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
- Who
- Indian security agencies and Intelligence Bureau officials; Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI); Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its proxy The Resistance Front (TRF); Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
- What
- A new ISI strategy in which LeT carries out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir while responsibility is attributed to ISKP, following two back-to-back terror attacks.
- Where
- Jammu and Kashmir, India; with related LeT-ISKP cooperation in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and training facilities near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
- When
- Recent, following two back-to-back terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir (no exact dates given in the articles).
- Why
- To give LeT and ISI operational deniability and complicate matters for Indian investigating agencies, while ISKP gains publicity and boosts its online radicalisation campaign.
Official security assessment
Concern over terror resurgence
Threat level in Jammu and Kashmir
Official security assessment
Security agencies are confident the recent incidents do not signal a sustained trend and have vowed to prevent any revival of the menace.
Concern over terror resurgence
The back-to-back attacks have raised concerns about a possible resurgence of terrorism in the Union Territory.
ISKP's role and strategy
Official security assessment
ISKP has a very small ground presence in J&K and focuses on online radicalisation; ISI has not been receptive to ISKP operating on the ground.
Concern over terror resurgence
Attributing attacks to ISKP would boost its online radicalisation campaign and make it appear a strong entity in Jammu and Kashmir.
Key facts
- Incidents
- Two back-to-back terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir
- Claimed by
- The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba
- New strategy
- ISI directs LeT to carry out attacks while attributing responsibility to ISKP
- ISKP presence in J&K
- Very small; focused mainly on online radicalisation
- Joint operations
- LeT and ISKP conducting joint training near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
- Prior cooperation
- Islamic State roped in by ISI to battle alongside LeT in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- LeT training facility
- Main facility in Muridke near Lahore destroyed; operations moved near Pakistan-Afghanistan border
Quotes
An Intelligence Bureau official
Indian intelligence official commenting on ISI strategy
“"The ISI has decided that while Lashkar would carry out the attacks, responsibility for every strike or terror activity would be attributed to the ISKP."”
thehansindia.com
Sources
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