A classified Indian intelligence dossier has exposed a covert alliance between Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), allegedly engineered and funded by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Balochistan. The documents, accessed by NDTV, detail how Pakistan's military establishment is repurposing terror groups to conduct hybrid warfare against Baloch nationalists and elements within Afghanistan's Taliban regime opposed to Islamabad. This development highlights ongoing concerns about state-sponsored terrorism in South Asia, where Balochistan has long been a flashpoint for separatist insurgencies seeking greater autonomy or independence from Pakistan.

The dossier points to ISKP's propaganda magazine Yalgaar, which outlines plans to extend operations into Kashmir, potentially reigniting cross-border terrorism. ISKP, an affiliate of the Islamic State operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has historically been at odds with the Afghan Taliban, who view it as un-Islamic. However, under ISI guidance, the group is being restructured to target anti-Pakistan forces. A key piece of evidence is a photograph depicting ISKP's Balochistan coordinator, Mir Shafiq Mengal, presenting a pistol to LeT's senior operative, Rana Mohammad Ashfaq, symbolizing the formalization of their partnership. Intelligence sources indicate this alliance, supervised directly by the ISI, aims to merge the operational strengths of both groups while maintaining plausible deniability for Islamabad.

Mengal, the son of former Balochistan Chief Minister Nasir Mengal, has been identified as a long-standing ISI asset. Since 2015, he has led a private militia against Baloch separatists and facilitated ISKP activities, including establishing bases in Mastung and Khuzdar for arms storage and cross-border raids into Afghanistan. His involvement was documented in Pakistan's 2015 Joint Investigation Team report on terror financing. Following the Taliban's 2021 takeover of Kabul, the ISI reportedly overhauled ISKP's network in Balochistan. A March 2025 attack by Baloch fighters on the Mastung base, which killed 30 militants, prompted the ISI to integrate LeT resources. By June 2025, LeT leaders Ashfaq and deputy Saifullah Kasuri held a Jirga—a traditional Pashtun council—in Balochistan, vowing jihad against perceived threats to Pakistan.

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This nexus represents a strategic evolution in Pakistan's proxy warfare, blending LeT's Kashmir-focused expertise with ISKP's global jihadist appeal to amplify instability. Analysts caution that it could exacerbate violence in Kashmir, where LeT has a history of orchestrating attacks like the 2008 Mumbai assaults, while fueling unrest in Balochistan—a resource-rich province plagued by enforced disappearances and economic marginalization—and Afghanistan. As India and regional powers monitor these developments, the dossier's revelations challenge Pakistan's repeated denials of terror sponsorship, raising urgent questions about international responses to state-backed militancy in the region.

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