COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: October 2026
The analysis below is based on the following EUAA COI products: COI Update 2026, 6., 7.; Country Focus 2026, 3.; Country Focus 2024, 3.; Country Guidance should not be referred to as a source of COI.
State actors — including the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and police — exercise nationwide presence, with particularly dense deployment in conflict-affected areas. Their operational focus is strongest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), especially the southern belt and former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), as well as in Balochistan, where military and paramilitary forces conduct counterinsurgency operations, maintain checkpoints and border control, and carry out drone strikes and large-scale security campaigns.
The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and affiliated groups maintain their core areas of influence in southern KP and former FATA, where they operate entrenched networks, exercise shadow governance in parts of North Waziristan, and conduct frequent attacks. Their presence has expanded to most districts of KP, with growing reach into urban centres such as Peshawar and parts of Malakand.
Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Pakistan Province (ISPP) operate primarily through cells in KP urban hubs (notably Peshawar) and adjacent regions, carrying out high-profile attacks, often overlapping geographically with TTP activity.
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) maintains a more structured, network-based presence, with influence extending beyond KP into Punjab and urban areas, often less visible but organisationally developed.
Balochistan nationalist groups are mainly active in Balochistan province, particularly in insurgency-affected districts, where they challenge state control and target infrastructure and security forces.
Other armed groups such as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) / Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ) operate through networks across KP and parts of Punjab, with concentrations in sectarian hotspots such as Dera Ismail Khan and Kurram, conducting targeted violence rather than territorial control.