ISKP ROLE IN MOSCOW TERROR ATTACK TIED TO PAK DEEP STATE

While it is not yet clear who the entities were that had decided to use the services of ISKP in the Moscow attack, sources say that a few ISI officials had acted as intermediaries and were aware of the terror plot.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Evidence in the Moscow terror attack of 22 March suggests that while the muscle behind the attack was provided by the terrorist group, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP)—the regional arm of the ISIS—but the brain behind the attack had reached out to ISKP via Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), say official and non-governmental sources who have experience of working in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and have significant knowledge of the various terror groups that are at play there. The forces that motivated elements in the ISI to facilitate such an attack are as yet unknown, but it’s clear that there were external cues that the ISI acted on. The investigation by multiple Russian agencies to locate the brain behind the Moscow terror attack is yet to reach a finality.

Intelligence gathered by multiple agencies over a period of time, covering the interactions between ISKP and ISI, especially after Lt General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum took over as the ISI head in November 2021—interactions that subsequently got verified by actions on the ground—indicates that ISKP has emerged as one of the most prominent unofficial arms of the Pakistani deep state, a sort of mercenary group that is being used to carry out actions to further ISI’s strategic goals.

While it is not yet clear who the entities were that had decided to use the services of ISKP in this recent attack, sources tracking the development said that a few ISI officials had acted as intermediaries in this entire development and that they were aware of the terror plot.