Overview
- A new intelligence-cited photograph shows ISKP coordinator Mir Shafiq Mengal handing a pistol to Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Rana Mohammad Ashfaq, which analysts say signals formal collaboration.
- The Times of India reports a circulated video purportedly showing Ashfaq training alongside Mengal at an undisclosed Balochistan site, suggesting active joint preparation.
- Sources across multiple outlets allege Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence orchestrated the partnership to target Baloch insurgents and hostile Taliban elements while maintaining plausible deniability.
- Recent editions of ISKP’s magazine Yalgaar outline intent to expand operations into Indian-administered Kashmir, a move security officials interpret as encouraged by Pakistan’s security establishment.
- Reporting traces the cooperation to March 2025, when Baloch fighters hit ISKP’s Mastung base, after which LeT leaders arrived in Balochistan, as Pakistani authorities have not issued a detailed public response.