How Pakistan Built the World’s Deadliest Terror Network

The recent Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 28 innocent Indian civilians, has jolted the international community and reignited a long-standing, uncomfortable truth: Pakistan remains the epicenter of global terrorism.

This wasn’t a random act of violence. It was a premeditated, religiously targeted massacre. On the serene meadows of Pahalgam—often called India’s Switzerland—terrorists approached a group of Indian tourists and asked a chilling question: “Are you a Muslim?” They demanded the tourists recite the Kalma, the Islamic declaration of faith. Those who failed were gunned down on the spot. Their only "crime": being Hindu.

This cold-blooded execution was not an isolated act of brutality. It was yet another link in a long, bloody chain of terror that stretches from Kashmir to Kabul, from Tehran to Moscow, from London to New York—all with roots tracing back to one state: Pakistan.

For over four decades, Pakistan hasn’t just harbored terror—it has industrialized it. Its military-intelligence complex has nurtured extremist networks, trained jihadists, and exported terrorism as an instrument of strategic policy. From the snow-covered valleys of Kashmir to the streets of Kabul and the heart of Europe, the blood trails lead back to Rawalpindi.

Inside Pakistan’s State-Sanctioned Terror Regime

In a rare moment of candor in 2018, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted the country’s role in enabling the 2008 Mumbai attacks—a brutal assault carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group nurtured by the Pakistani establishment. A decade later, former President Pervez Musharraf confirmed that Pakistan trained terrorists to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, all in the name of "strategic leverage." These weren’t fringe remarks—they were confessions from the top.

Just days ago, Pakistan’s own Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, admitted on record that Islamabad supported terror outfits for over three decades, calling it a policy error tied to American interests in the region. The admission, however belated, pulls the veil off decades of denial.

We have been doing the dirty work of the United States for three decades”.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif spoke to me last night in a remarkable and wide ranging interview about the escalating situation in Kashmir. India is blaming Pakistan who says there is no… pic.twitter.com/QzHM6d3CsG

— Yalda Hakim (@SkyYaldaHakim) April 25, 2025

Exporting Extremism: Pakistan’s Cross-Border Playbook Afghanistan

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has long played kingmaker in Afghanistan’s decades-long tragedy. From training and funding the Haqqani Network to harboring Taliban leadership, Pakistan has played an integral role in destabilizing Afghanistan. From the 2008 Indian Embassy bombing to the 2011 siege of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, these assaults bear the unmistakable signature of ISI-backed terror.

Acclaimed journalist Carlotta Gall noted that these attacks were not rogue operations—they were "sanctioned and monitored by the most senior officials in Pakistani intelligence."

• Russia: The Moscow Massacre Connection: In 2024, a shocking terror attack at a concert hall in Moscow left the world reeling. Russian investigators traced ideological and logistical links back to Pakistan-based networks, suggesting that the jihadist contagion bred in Pakistan is now bleeding into Central Asia and Europe.
• Iran: Pakistan’s Sectarian Proxies: Sunni extremist group Jaish ul-Adl, operating from Pakistani soil, has launched numerous attacks on Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces. In January 2024, Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes inside Balochistan, hitting alleged terror hideouts. Iran’s message was clear: it will not tolerate Pakistan’s inaction—or complicity.
• United Kingdom: Radicalized Abroad, Indoctrinated in Pakistan: The 2005 London Bombings, Britain’s deadliest terror attack, had roots in Pakistan. Three of the attackers—Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, and Germaine Lindsay—spent time in Pakistan's madrassas and training camps, absorbing extremist ideology under the ISI’s watchful eye.
• Bin Laden’s Abbottabad Safe Haven: No exposé on Pakistan’s terror trail is complete without mentioning Osama bin Laden, who was found living in a fortified compound in Abbottabad, a stone’s throw from Pakistan’s Military Academy. The world watched in disbelief as it became clear: the most wanted terrorist on Earth had lived undisturbed in Pakistan for years. The ISI’s role in shielding him has never been convincingly explained.

یہ ہیں وہ ریاستی پالیسی جس کی وجہ سے پشتون کو دہشتگرد کہاں گیا جس کی وجہ سے پشتون کا پورا نسل تباہ اور برباد ہوا جس کی وجہ سے پشتون IDPS بنے جس کی وجہ سے پشتونوں کے گھریں بازاریں ہسپتال سکول گہرائے گئے.اور آج بولتے ہیں کہ ریڈ لائن کراس نہ کریں@GulBukhari#SaveBuner4mStateTaliban pic.twitter.com/khjh7sy390

— Human Rights (@Pashtunkhowa) November 12, 2019

Bangladesh and Beyond: JMB, Rohingya Camps, and Gulf Funding

Pakistan’s terror export doesn’t end with direct attacks. It includes the clandestine manipulation of religious groups and refugee populations. Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned outfit, has received financial and logistical backing from Pakistan’s ISI. The 2016 Gulshan café attack in Dhaka, which killed 20, was a gruesome reminder.

A 2020 intelligence report revealed ISI's involvement in training 40 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps through JMB, with plans to infiltrate them into India. These operations, masked as humanitarian aid, were funded through Gulf-based NGOs with ISI oversight—a chilling blend of covert warfare and exploitation.

The Terror Camps of Pakistan: Breeding Grounds for Global Jihad

Pakistan’s network of terror training camps stretches across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Waziristan, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. These are not ragtag hideouts—they are well-oiled factories of jihad.

Groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, and even ISIS-Khorasan receive weapons training, ideological indoctrination, and operational guidance. Former military officers, particularly ex-ISI and Army personnel, frequently oversee these programs. This isn’t terrorism-by-accident; it is terrorism by design

Recognized Worldwide, Denied at Home

The U.S. State Department’s 2019 Country Report on Terrorism labeled Pakistan a safe haven for regionally focused terrorist groups. The European Foundation for South Asian Studies went further, describing the Pakistani military, ISI, and extremist clerics as a “triad of terror."

Even insiders have spoken. In a 2019 interview, Brigadier Shah admitted on Pakistani TV that the government spent millions to “mainstream” Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Lashkar-e-Taiba’s political wing.

Musharraf himself once described Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri, and Haqqani as “heroes"—a terrifying glimpse into the mindset of Pakistan’s ruling elite.

The World’s Turning Point

The world can no longer afford to treat Pakistan as a misunderstood ally or a fragile state on the brink. It is time to call it what it is: a state sponsor of terrorism.

The international community must act—through sanctions, blacklisting, and diplomatic isolation—to hold Pakistan accountable. The UN’s repeated failures to blacklist entities like LeT and JeM—blocked often by geopolitical vetoes—reflect global complicity as much as Pakistani deception.

A Global Crisis with a Return Address

Pakistan’s terror trail isn’t just India’s concern—or Afghanistan’s burden. It is a global crisis. The ideology of jihad, bred and nurtured in Pakistan, has spilled into Asia, Europe, and beyond.

Unless the world confronts the reality of Pakistan’s terror infrastructure, the cycle will continue—claiming more lives, destabilizing more regions, and hollowing out more societies from within.

Terror has a return address. The time for strategic ambiguity is over. The world must call it out—before the next massacre.