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Washington, January 7 (IANS): The recent arrest of a senior official of an ISIS affiliate organisation, Mehmet Goren, has reignited accusations against Pakistan for providing safe havens to terrorist groups. Goren, also known by his code name 'Yahya', was captured by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation in a covert operation near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in December last year. He was accused of planning suicide attacks and facilitating the operations of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).
"In the wake of the arrest, a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, released an audio message accusing Pakistan of harbouring ISIS terrorists, claiming the Taliban had long monitored their activities and even shared intelligence that aided such operations," senior research fellow at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Anna Mahjar-Barducci, wrote in an opinion piece in New York-based The New York Sun.
"Mr. Mujahid described ISIS as a 'sinister phenomenon'. He then warned that safe havens must not be used against any country, reflecting the assessment that Pakistan’s territory allegedly serves as a sanctuary for ISIS terrorists not only to challenge the Taliban leadership but to threaten countries like India. Taliban statements about ISIS in Pakistan must be read with caution, but they are not easily dismissed," the author further stated.
Regional observers have repeatedly pointed to proof that Pakistan has a link with ISIS-K. It has been highlighted that ISIS-K operatives find refuge in provinces of Pakistan like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where training camps and recruitment networks reportedly function with varying degrees of state tolerance or support.
"Evidence of Pakistan’s links to ISIS-K has been accumulating over the years. In April 2024, Afghan authorities arrested Tajik recruits instructed to train in Quetta, Pakistan, before deployment to conflict zones. The Taliban’s foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, alluded to three neighbouring countries aiding ISIS-K, with one providing recruits, another transit, and a third planning, training, and funding — widely interpreted as implicating Pakistan," the New York Sun piece mentioned.
In March, 2024, the Baloch National Movement’s chairman, Naseem Baloch, in his remarks during a United Nations meeting said that ISIS camps in Balochistan function under the supervision of Pakistani army. In a video, a founding ISIS-K member, Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, stated that Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers facilitated financial support for Pakistan-born Hafiz Saeed Khan, who was ISIS-K's emir until his death in 2016.
The arrest of ISIS-K’s chief, Aslam Farooqi, another Pakistani national, by Afghan forces in 2020 also revealed the group's connection with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "The ISIS-K is just a demon child of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence," the report quoted a senior Afghan official as saying.
In an opinion piece in The New York Sun, Anna Mahjar-Barducci wrote, "Social media and activist accounts amplify these claims, with posts stating that ISIS training centers at Mastung, Balochistan, are under military protection. Locals at Mastung protested these settlements in 2024, condemning the Pakistani state for facilitating ISIS presence."
"The arrest of Mr. Goren coincides with heightened regional tensions. On October 9, 2025, Pakistani aircraft struck Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan positions in Kabul. The strikes occurred amid Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to India and New Delhi’s decision to reopen the embassy in Kabul," the author added.
Arrests, confessions and intelligence reports signal that the nexus between Pakistan poses serious risks to regional stability, as per the report. Safe havens in Pakistan provides ISIS-K with operational depth, redundancy, and access to broader recruitment pools.
