ISI's Global Terror Push: Lashkar, JeM Go International

The arrests made in the United States and also in South Korea indicate the growing network of the ISI.

In August last year, a Pakistani citizen was arrested for being a member of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He was trained in Pakistan and had entered South Korea by using falsified documents.

Investigators probed his links with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and his potential links to terror financing.

While the ISI has always had an international network, it has of late been ramping up such activity in a big way.

While the targets are Indian nationals and Indian interests abroad, the aim is also to recruit from across the globe and carry out attacks on a major scale.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that if one studies the pattern, the ISI has been looking to operate on an international scale.

The ISI has been trying to rope in international players, so that it can operate on a global scale. The spy agency wants outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) to operate on a larger scale like how the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda do.

It began with Sajid Mir, one of the main accused in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. In 2007, Mir was sentenced in-absentia by a French court to 10 years in prison. He was accused of plotting terrorist activities involving French citizens.

On March 6, a Pakistani national, Asif Merchant associated with the ISI was found guilty in the US of trying to kill political figures and government officials.

Similarly one Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, once again of Pakistani origin, pleaded guilty for trying to carry out an attack on a Jewish centre in New York City.

Counterterrorism officials say that most of these people who are operating abroad are on the payrolls of the ISI. They are trained in Pakistan and then sent out on international missions.

This is clearly a sign that Pakistan does not want to focus just on India, but on major international operations as well.

The ISI has also hosted members of the Hamas on multiple occasions in Pakistan. It has been trying to bring together the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Hamas for several months now.

An official said that this signals that Pakistan wants its terror groups not just to focus on India, but operate at an international level.

Many terror groups in Pakistan have been insisting that they be allowed to carry out operations internationally.

In addition to India, these terror groups have raised their voices against the French administration and Israeli action against the terror group Hamas.

Like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have very often questioned the actions of the West and US against Islamic nations.

It is very difficult to keep these groups and their demands under check for the ISI. This has led to the scaling up of international operations, another official said.

The official pointed out that for now, the ISI would want members of these terror outfits to carry out attacks individually. There are no plans to send in multiple members at one go, like is the case when it comes to their operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba expect that their operatives carry out lone actor strikes abroad and at the same time convey the message to the global audience. Officials say that wherever operations may be carried out, the fact remains that their origins are from Pakistan.

These persons are funded generously by the ISI and also provided safe havens in Pakistan once their operations conclude.

The scaling up of international operations has, however, not gone unnoticed. The Global Terrorism Index 2026 has placed Pakistan on the top of the global rankings.

The rankings come in the wake of several international agencies flagging Pakistan's role in aiding and abetting terror not just in India, but in other parts of the world as well.

The report also says that Pakistan continues to function as a host and an operational hub for multiple terror networks with global and regional reach.

- IANS