Pakistan: Lashkar terror infrastructure repurposed to facilitate activity toward Afghanistan

Washington, Aug 22 (AHN) Having long supported the political and military ecosystem in Afghanistan from which the Taliban emerged, Pakistan expected the group's return to power to serve its interests on the Durand Line, suppress the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and preserve Kabul’s dependence on Pakistani transit and security support. Instead, the Taliban have resisted Islamabad’s pressure and increasingly pursued alternative diplomatic and economic partnerships, a report has stated.

It noted that collapse of Pakistan’s expectations has been followed by a marked escalation in the tone of its official rhetoric. By February 2026, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif was openly signalling a shift towards direct confrontation.

“Islamabad's response has progressively shifted towards coercion. Cross-border strikes, prolonged border closures, transit restrictions, economic pressure and renewed engagement with Afghan political opponents have accompanied growing military confrontation. Pakistan maintains that its operations are necessary because the Taliban have failed to prevent the TTP from using Afghan territory; Kabul denies providing sanctuary to the group and, in turn, has accused Pakistan of harboring Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) elements,” according to a report in US-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Citing analysts, the report said that Pakistan has returned to a familiar instrument of regional statecraft: selectively using, tolerating, and facilitating terrorist proxies to exert political pressure. As Islamabad’s conventional leverage over the Taliban has diminished, it said, elements within the Pakistani security establishment have reportedly tolerated or facilitated ISKP networks in the border regions of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

The report said that the growing significance of Badakhshan province and the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan adds another dimension to the calculation, with increasing Afghan connectivity to China, expanding mineral exploration and alternative transit routes potentially undermining Pakistan’s long standing economic and geopolitical influence over both Kabul and Beijing.

“Badakhshan and the Wakhan Corridor have consequently become an important arena in this wider struggle for influence. Badakhshan borders China, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, while the narrow Wakhan Corridor provides Afghanistan with its only direct frontier with China's Xinjiang region. For Kabul, Wakhan offers something strategically transformative: the possibility of developing direct trade, infrastructure and mineral links with China without relying on Pakistani territory,” the report mentioned.

Highlighting the growing geopolitical significance of militant activity along the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderlands, the report said that Taliban authorities increasingly contend that ISKP’s operational infrastructure has shifted across the border.

Referring to recent commentary, it said that figures linked to terror group Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had established contacts with ISKP-affiliated individuals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while infrastructure traditionally associated with LeT was reportedly being used for activities targeting Afghanistan.

“Local assessments alleges that Mohammad Rana Ashfaq, associated with Jamaat-ud-Dawa and LeT, has assumed an expanded role in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has been involved in contacts with Abdullah Afridi, a local ISKP commander in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It further alleges that the Maaz bin Jabal LeT Markaz in Dir has provided space for training or operational coordination between cadres of LeT and ISKP involving Afghanistan. These developments suggest that LeT infrastructure is now being repurposed to facilitate activity toward Afghanistan,” the report detailed.