Rather than weakening Pakistan’s position, Al-Mirsaad’s repeated attempts to cast blame underscore the growing distance between narrative-driven messaging and realities that are widely acknowledged by the international community.
While Afghan digital platforms push anti-Pakistan narratives, ISKP’s own propaganda channels, such as Al-Azaim, continue referencing Afghan sanctuaries as their ideological and operational base. Indian social media accounts and allied disinformation hubs strategically echo Afghan claims to construct a synthetic consensus against Pakistan. This mirrors the coordination pattern exposed in the 2020 EU Disinformation Lab investigation that uncovered a global anti-Pakistan network.
Recent reports from the UN in 2025, and assertions made by countries including Russia and Denmark, show that ISKP leaders, recruitment networks and media operations are based inside Afghanistan. The October 2025 bombings in Kunar and breaches in Kabul’s security highlight the Afghan government’s inability to maintain control in certain areas. The UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team report also indicates that the TTP, or Fitna al-Khawarij, receives regular financial support from the Afghan Taliban, with its leader, Noor Wali Masoud, reportedly receiving $43,000 each month, showing sustained backing for the group.
According to SIGAR, equipment worth $7.1 billion left behind in Afghanistan during the US withdrawal is now being used by the TTP in attacks on Pakistan. Moreover, independent investigations into recent incidents, such as those involving Rahman Ullah, who had indirect links to extremist networks in Afghanistan, and his half-brother Muawiyah Khorasani, known to have connections with ISKP in eastern Afghanistan, show that Afghan-based networks continue to influence militant activity across the region.
In a recent report, the Transatlantic Intelligence Consortium, a forum composed of retired officials from various Western and non-Western intelligence, claims that up to 44 terrorist outfits remain active in Afghanistan, with some maintaining training spaces and family compounds. The report echoes concerns previously raised at the UN by Russia’s Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, who warned UNSC that terrorist factions in Afghanistan continue to regroup and expand due to inadequate countermeasures by de facto Kabul authorities. Pakistan has also repeatedly warned the UN that the growing presence of ISKP in Afghanistan is a major threat to regional security.
Groups like TTP/FAK and ISKP continue issuing fake, self-serving fatwas from Afghanistan aimed at confusing the public and recruiting impressionable youth. These extremist groups have created materials that misrepresent Islam, promote takfir and try to justify attacks in Pakistan. These efforts fail to gain credibility because Pakistan’s fatwa, Paigham-e-Pakistan, is based on authentic scholarship, supported by the state, and the consensus of over 1,800 scholars of all major ideologies and sects. The fatwa clearly rejects terrorism, extremism, takfir and suicide attacks, and has become a widely respected tool to challenge extremist propaganda.
Drawing lessons from Pakistan’s Paigham-e-Pakistan, Afghanistan similarly requires a state-endorsed, cross-sectarian religious decree, collectively issued by scholars from all major schools of thought and publicly affirmed by the supreme leadership, including Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, to delegitimise terrorism, takfir and violence in unequivocal Islamic terms. Such a unified fatwa would provide a credible religious counter-narrative, discourage Afghan youth from extremist pathways and undercut the ideological space exploited by terrorist organisations.