The group calling itself the Islamic State has announced the establishment of a new overseas province in Pakistan, just days after proclaiming another new overseas province in northern India, like reported by intelnews.org.
Until recently, the Islamic State’s operations in Asia were conducted under the banner of the Islamic State – Khorasan Province, or IS-KP. The shadowy group was founded in early 2015 and was led by former Taliban warlords who pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the spiritual leader and self-proclaimed emir of the Islamic State. Since that time, at least two of IS-KP’s leaders have been killed by United States forces, while the group has been engaged in a war against rival militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, notably the Taliban.
Last week, the Islamic State announced the establishment of a new overseas province in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state. The announcement was made by Amaq, which serves as the news agency of the Islamic State. According to the news release, the Islamic State named the new province “wilayah al-Hind” (province of Hind). It is based in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, which is located in one of the three administrative divisions of the Indian administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. On Wednesday a new press release by Amaq proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic State – Pakistan Province. In the same press release, the Islamic State said that the new overseas province’s first action was the killing of a Pakistani police officer in Mastung, a mountainous town located in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province. In addition to killing the police officer, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an armed attack at a gathering of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Pashtun-dominant Taliban group that operates on Pakistani soil. The attack took place last week in Quetta, the largest urban center and provincial capital of Baluchistan.
Last month, the Islamic State said it was behind a suicide attack at a Quetta outdoor marketplace, which killed 20 and injured over 50 people. The attack was targeted Pakistani Hazara Muslims, who are seen as heretical by several militant Islamist groups that operate in the region. The latest announcement of a new Islamic State overseas province may be seen as evidence that the Islamic State is gradually moving its center of operations to the eastern regions of Asia. In April the militant group said it was behind a barrage of synchronized suicide attacks in Sri Lanka, which killed over 250 people.
