New Delhi: The hit jobs by unidentified gunmen continue to rock both the ISI and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan. Unknown persons have killed a senior LeT commander as well as a low-level official linked to the ISI.
Those killed have been identified as Mir Shukr Khan Raisani and Mohammad Iqbal. The LeT has lost several top commanders in recent months thanks to hit jobs by the unidentified gunmen.
Raisani was a top LeT commander and was killed at Quetta in Balochistan. Just a day before his killing, he had attended a major event organised by the LeT. He was handling operations for the LeT in Balochistan. Before this, he was involved in recruitment and training targeting Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
However, the killing that the Indian agencies are tracking closely is that of Mohammad Iqbal. He was killed by unknown gunmen in Orakzai district, which is a mountainous region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Iqbal’s death has opened up a can of worms, as he was directly involved with the Islamic State in KP and Afghanistan. He is originally from the Kurram Agency, now known as Kurram District.
Following his death, several important documents were found on him. The documents suggest that he, along with several other ISI officials, was directly involved with the Islamic State.
Pakistan has denied that it supports the Islamic State. However, the killing of Iqbal and the documents retrieved from him prove that Pakistan has been lying about its links with the Islamic State.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that Pakistan has nurtured the Islamic State in recent times for several reasons. It wants to strengthen the outfit so that it can pose problems for the Afghan Taliban.
With problems mounting for the Pakistan security forces both in KP and Balochistan, it decided to strike a pact with the Islamic State, whereby its fighters would battle alongside the LeT against both the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
Another official said that the ISI has been training several hundred Islamic State recruits in KP. While many are meant to stay back and fight against the TTP and BLA, others are being launched in Afghanistan to battle against the Taliban.
The Afghan Taliban has accused Pakistan of nurturing groups that are counterproductive to Afghanistan. Pakistan has been accused of nurturing Islamic State terrorists on its soil, a charge that Islamabad has consistently denied.
Officials say that Iqbal’s killing is proof that the ISI is backing the Islamic State. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which was launched in Afghanistan, has not managed to fight the Taliban. It had sought to throw out the Taliban regime and then establish the Caliphate in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban proved to be stronger and managed to keep the Islamic State under check.
Now that the Taliban and Pakistan have had a falling out, Islamabad has decided to nurture the Islamic State. The goal is to weaken the Taliban and then, under an Islamic State rule, take control over Afghanistan.
Officials say that the recent spate of killings by unknown gunmen has become a major headache for Pakistan. Not only are its designs getting exposed when it comes to links with terror groups, but outfits such as the LeT are finding it exceptionally hard to rebuild.
The LeT, which was hit hard during Operation Sindoor, has been trying to rebuild. However, if one looks into the recent killings, it is clear that the target is the top leadership. Senior functionaries, top commanders and even founding members have been targeted by these unknown gunmen, an official said.
(IANS)
