The ICC Champions Trophy is going on in Pakistan. Meanwhile, an intelligence report has given sleepless nights to the security agencies. Pakistani intelligence agencies have come to know that the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has hatched a conspiracy to target foreign citizens. According to the report, the terrorist organization has planned to target Chinese and Arab citizens in particular.
According to intelligence inputs, ISKP is planning to rent houses on the outskirts of the city, where CCTV cameras are not installed and can only be reached by rickshaw or motorcycle. The terrorists plan to kidnap foreigners and take them to these rented houses at night so that no one gets to know about it. Places like ports, airports, offices and hotels can be targeted. This especially includes areas where foreign nationals often visit.
The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) is a regional branch of the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS), founded in 2015. The organization is mainly active in Pakistan and Afghanistan. After emerging in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, the organization quickly gained notoriety for its brutality. Although its strength has declined in recent years due to operations by the Taliban and US forces, it still remains a major threat.
ISKP has carried out several major terrorist attacks. In 2021, the organization attacked Kabul International Airport, killing 13 American soldiers and several Afghan civilians. In September 2022, it carried out a suicide attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul. Recently, the group carried out twin bombings in Iran, killing about 100 people.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, has estimated that IS-Khorasan carried out about 100 attacks on civilians in Afghanistan-Pakistan in 2017-18 and more than 250 attacks on US-Afghan and Pakistani forces. Experts believe that IS-Khorasan has been at the forefront in claiming responsibility for terror attacks, some of which may be false claims. The terror attacks claimed by IS-Khorasan include firing rockets at the Kabul University campus, the Afghan Presidential Palace. IS-Khorasan is estimated to have 1,500-2,000 fighters.
It must be recalled that in 2009, Sri Lankan cricket team players were attacked in Lahore. Due to security reasons, India refused to play matches in Pakistan this time. After the warning issued by intelligence agencies, many serious questions are being raised because a large number of players of foreign cricket teams, along with coaches and officers associated with the teams, have reached Pakistan. In such a situation, it remains to be seen whether Pakistan will be able to ensure their security?
