The Islamic nation’s doublespeaks and dubious track records- including on security matters, harbouring terrorists and nuclear proliferation- have in the past earned it epithets like “international migraine,” “pathological liar,” and more.
Now, it has been called “A cancer state in the name of Islam”- not by a western diplomat, but an Islamic terrorist organisation.
The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP), a regional affiliate of the dreaded Isis, has trained its guns on Pakistan’s religious scholars as well as its system of governance. In its ‘Khorasan Ghag’ magazine, ISKP has claimed that Pakistan is run by “an establishment which follows instructions from the United States.”
To buttress the claim, it cited the example of Imran Khan’s ascension to, and ousting from power. It said Khan was brought into power through rigging and removed after he visited Russia. It added that Pakistan army chief Gen Asim Munir’s recent visit to US was to “take orders.”
It has vowed to continue working against the Pakistani state and keep up its own agenda of jihad against “US agents.”
The magazine also dedicated substantial space to a recent confrontation between pakistani scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, a proponent of so called “Islamic banking,” and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) Mufti Noor Wali.
Usmani had slammed Wali and TTP for acting against the Pakistani state.
Pakistan is a sanctuary for numerous Islamic militant organisations with overlapping and conflicting ideologies, allegiances and complicated inter-relations.
The ISKP sprang out of dissenting Afghan Taliban, TTP and al-Qaida cadres in the Af-Pak region around 2015-15. It was also joined by some defectors from JuD, LeT and other extremist groups with presence in Pakistan. It has received support from the Islamic State’s core leadership in Iraq and Syria since its founding. It has been active in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks.
The ISKP, just like the TTP, targets the Pakistani state and its interests. It also tries to delegitimize the Afghan Taliban and undermine the latter’s claims of restoring peace in Afghanistan.