Washington, August 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Pakistan appears to be reverting to its longstanding reliance on militant networks as its conventional influence over Afghanistan declines, with analysts pointing to the continued presence of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) networks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to a report.
The report published by online magazine American Thinker alleged that some ISKP networks have survived in Pakistan because of alleged tolerance or support from elements within the country’s security establishment.
The Taliban have accused Pakistan of allowing ISKP infrastructure to operate from its territory, citing the cross-border movement and continued survival of ISKP leader Sanaullah Ghafari as well as alleged militant camps in Pakistan. In June, the Taliban said they had carried out strikes against sites in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that they claimed were linked to ISKP.
According to the report, Pakistan’s decades-old strategy of maintaining a friendly government in Kabul to achieve “strategic depth” against India and secure its western border has largely collapsed since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Islamabad had expected the Taliban to accept the Durand Line, act against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and remain dependent on Pakistani trade routes and patronage. Instead, relations between the two sides have deteriorated, marked by border clashes, airstrikes, economic pressure and accusations of supporting terrorism, the report said.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif adopted an increasingly confrontational position in February 2026, saying that “our cup of patience has overflowed” and that an open war had begun, according to the report.
ISKP remains one of the Taliban’s most serious jihadist adversaries. Unlike the Taliban’s primarily Afghanistan-focused agenda, ISKP follows the Islamic State’s transnational ideology and considers the Taliban illegitimate. The Taliban have conducted an extensive campaign against ISKP since returning to power.
The report warned that any alleged Pakistani tolerance of ISKP could undermine the Taliban’s counterterrorism operations and contribute to the emergence of a stronger regional terrorist network.
The Wakhan Corridor has also emerged as a significant factor in the evolving regional contest. The narrow Afghan territory provides the country with its only direct border with China’s Xinjiang region. Kabul is developing a road towards China, and Afghan authorities reported in May 2026 that around 70 per cent of the route had been completed, according to the report.
A functioning corridor could allow Afghanistan to expand trade with China without depending on Pakistani territory, potentially reducing Islamabad’s traditional leverage over landlocked Afghanistan and diminishing the relative importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor for Afghan cargo.
The report suggested that instability in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province and around the Wakhan Corridor could serve Pakistan’s interests by giving China reasons to delay direct connectivity while preserving Pakistan’s position as Beijing’s principal western regional partner.
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