Kabul Gurdwara attack linked to Pak, arrested ISKP chief Aslam Farooqui reveals relationship with ISI

The main conspirator of last month's attack on Kabul Gurdwara who was arrested Afghan forces on Saturday has revealed the Islamic State's relationship with Pakistan's intelligence agencies. 

Afghanistan's General Directorate of National Security (NDS) says its forces have arrested Aslam Farooqi, the leader of the Khorasan branch of ISIS, for involvement in the March 25 attack which killed at least 25 people. 

Farooqi was arrested along with 19 other ISKP fighters in a special operation launched by Afghan forces. As per Afghan security forces, Aslam Farooqi has confessed of a strong relationship with Pak ISI.

"ISKP leader Abdullah Orakzai, a Pakistani national known as Aslam Farooqi, was detained in a complex operation by NDS Afghanistan special forces. In initial investigations, he has confessed of a strong relationship between Islamic State-Khurasan and regional intelligence agencies," said Javed Faisla, Spokesperson of National Security Council of Afghanistan.

Farooq was earlier associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba and Tehreek-e-Taliban and was operating as the commander of ISIS’s military wing in Pakistan’s Peshawar city. He was deployed in Abdul Khel valley of Achin district of the eastern province of Nangarhar. Last year, he replaced Mawlawi Zia-ul-Haq aka Abu Omar Khorasani as ISKP chief. 

Aslam Farooqi has close ties with other terrorist networks, such as LeT and the Haqqani Network.

As per counter-terror operatives from Kabul and Delhi, ISKP used Kerala resident Muhsin, who fled to Afghanistan to join Islamic State, along with three other terrorists to launch an attack on the Sikh Shrine in Kabul.

"Farooqi, the leader of the Khorasan branch of the ISIS terrorist group, was arrested along with 19 of his close associates, including Qari Zahid and Saifullah, known as Abu Adullahullah of Pakistan, during a targeted and sophisticated operation by special security forces," said Afghan Forces in a statement.

Qari Zahid was in charge of ISIL's military in Afghanistan and Saifullah has been responsible for recruiting individuals in Nangarhar province.

Indian intelligence officials tracking Kerala's ISIS module believe that the terrorist attack on Kabul's Gurdwara was carried out by the Haqqani Network with Lashkar-e-Taiba from Pakistan. Haqqani network has the capability to launch such an attack inside the high-security zone of Kabul. 

It is a deliberate attempt to mislead the world, the ISKP claimed the attacks. Pakistan is reportedly promoting ISKP and other groups in Afghanistan as a check on the Taliban.

"Taliban will deny so that they are projected as a responsible organisation in line with the US Taliban agreement. ISI will use the name of ISKP or unknown outfits to claim the responsibility," an officer working with a central security establishment told Zee News.

Investigative agencies suspect that Abu Khalid-al-Hindi joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba a few months before the attack on Kabul. 

Afghan security sources speaking to the media stated that the Haqqani Network, an ISI controlled group that is part of the Taliban, wanted to attack the Indian mission in Kabul but failed due to tight security. Since they were not able to attack the Indian mission, they attacked the Gurdwara instead.

This attack was a clear message to India and a signal to curtail Indian influence in Afghanistan in the near future.