Who targeted Islamabad mosque during Friday namaz? Is Pakistan paying price for its terror policy?

Has Pakistan plunged into an internecine ethnic war of its own making? Is the Muslim state that has made terrorism an integral part of its foreign policy paying the price for its ominous acts? Does the Frankenstein monster created by the Pakistan Army, the ISI, and the deep state want to devour its own masters? These questions surfaced once again after the unknown assailants targeted the devotees at the Khadija Tul Kubra mosque, in southeastern Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, when they were offering the Friday prayer, or "Jumme ki Namaz." At least 15 people were killed 80 others were injured at the time of writing this article. Confirming the horrible incident, Islamabad police spokesperson Taqi Jawad said the cause of the blast is still unknown. Similarly, it is still unknown who was behind the blast. 

ISKP, ISIS, Islamic State and terrorism In Pakistan

The modus operandi suggests that either the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) might have carried out the attack. Both organisations are radical Islamic outfits, which are not happy with the state of affairs in Pakistan. Though they follow different shades of Islam, both of them want to establish the Sharia Law and make the country an Islamic State. These fanatic outfits want to run the country according to the strict Islamic laws, as interpreted by them. They believe in the Islamic philosophy of their own and consider all other kinds of Muslims as those following a wrong path. 

It is not the first of its kind of explosion. Earlier in November 2025, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens. The ISKP targeted a bus carrying Pakistani security personnel and attacked it with an improvised explosive device. Many people were killed. Established as a provincial branch of the Salafi Islamist group in 2012, Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) is active in Central and South Asia, primarily Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Its main objective is to overthrow the present system of governance and replace it with a caliphate governed under a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. They plan to expand beyond the region and take India also on its radar.

Pakistan Army, ISI and Islamabad terror attack

The ISKP declared new 'Pakistan Province' and 'Hind Province' branches on May 15, 2019, after claiming attacks in Balochistan and Kashmir, respectively. It is believed that they have links to Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhagvi, TTP, and other terrorist organizations committed to the cause of Islam. They have links to militant outfits as far as those from Syria and Iraq to the Xinjiang province of China. 

Security experts believe that the deep state of Pakistan has been using the ISKP to create problems in India. The ISI and the Pakistan Army have been supporting them with intelligence input, training, weapons, and also providing logistic and economic support. They turn a Nelson's Eye when matters of terrorist outfits of Xinjiang and Syria come, they keep on playing the hide-and-seek game when matters related to Afghanistan come. Pakistani agencies support the same outfit in India and fight with it in its own country. 

Pakistan's terrorism policy

Pakistan has used terrorism as an integral part of its foreign policy and deployed the terrorists against India. Former Pakistan Army chief General Zia-ul-Haque said that Islamabad can not defeat India in a conventional war; it should give it a thousand cuts and bleed to death. Known as 'Operation Tupac', General Zia adopted the policy of raising, supporting, training ad giving all kinds of help to terrorist groups flourishing on its land. It became a part of Pakistan's foreign policy. Pakistan became so obsessed with this policy that a liberal and modern leader like Imran Khan called these groups as "strategic assets" and supported them openly. 

Security experts believe that this penchant for terrorism has gone beyond Pakistan's plan. Some of these groups have gone out of control in Pakistan; they want to work for Islam in the way they deem fit and establish "true" Islam in the way they find it correct. When the present Pakistani system does not fit in their form of Islamic governance, they plan to overthrow it and replace it with their own brand of Islamic rule. Now, Pakistan is at the receiving end.