Islamic State Faces a Complex Web of Militant Groups and Violence in Pakistan

The Islamic State terrorists have made no secret of plans to extend their so-called caliphate across Muslim nations beyond the Middle East, and their extreme ideology is attracting supporters throughout South Asia, including Pakistan. Pakistan has plenty of militant groups, including the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, with acts of violence taking place every day. The groups compete for recruits. “After the Peshawar attack, Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced an end to the policy of differentiating between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists – negotiating with some while fighting others,” writes Samira Shackle for the New Statesman. “From here on in, all are ‘bad.’ This is a starting point, but it does not solve the problem that Pakistani extremism is not limited to a single group or a single geographical area.” The multitude of groups, now including the Islamic State, creates incentives for the government and military to choose sides for their own purposes. – YaleGlobal