Growing Evidence of Islamic State in Pakistan

Growing Evidence of Islamic State in Pakistan

After months of denying the Islamic State’s presence in Pakistan, the Pakistani government has finally acknowledged that the terrorist network, both as an inspiration and an organized group, is fast luring Pakistani jihadists into its fold. In one such admission, the Provincial Law Minister of Punjab Province officially confirmed the Islamic State presence in Punjab. Earlier, at the federal level, Pakistan's foreign secretary Azaz Ahmad Chaudhry admitted that Islamic State poses a serious threat to the country. The government and security establishments now appear willing to acknowledge the group's presence and to take action against it, as the most recent arrests illustrate. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the official voice of the Pakistani military, stated that, “in Pakistan, there is zero-tolerance for Daesh [a term used by some of the group's detractors];” their claims put on display the resolve of the Pakistani security establishment to stemming Islamic State's growth. However, despite these efforts, the group appears to inspire Pakistani jihadists and is well-placed to capitalize on Pakistan's diverse landscape of deeply-entrenched extremism.http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=45065&tx_ttnews[backPid]=26&cHash=b26bef719aabcf8a7488a26e079f2034#.VrglHimGhRk