Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), formed in 2015, is a regional affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group.392 ISKP follows a Salafist-jihadist ideology393 and in recent years has evolved towards adopting a more global posture.394 The group maintains a presence in Pakistan.395 Estimates of the size of the group during the reference period ranged from around 2 000396 to 4 000–6 000 fighters.397 The group, which has a history of attacking military and civilian targets in Pakistan,398 maintains a decentralised network of cells in the country.399 Despite experiencing a number of setbacks due to security operations in 2024 and 2025,400 it continues to present an ‘unpredictable’ security challenge to the state due to its resilience and ‘difficult-to-trace and rapidly evolving operational tactics’, according to an Islamabad-based security analyst.401 Meanwhile, its operational footprint during the reference period was more limited compared to that of other militant groups like TTP, HGB/IMP402 and major Balochi militant groups.403
Islamic State Pakistan Province (ISPP) is a separate regional Islamic State affiliate that split from ISKP in 2019 and focuses on Pakistan. It primarily operates in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and AJK while being less present in KP. While the group was generally known for conducting smaller-scale attacks (including acts of sectarian violence),404 it claimed several major deadly attacks in Balochistan in 2024405 and 2025406 and Islamabad in February 2026. Abdul Sayed, a conflict analyst based in Sweden, was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying that since 2019, ISPP carried out about 100 attacks, most of them in Balochistan.407
Map 3: ISPP and ISKP activities in Pakistan between 1 November 2024 and 21 April 2026408
Please note: The depictions on Map 3 do not imply any opinion whatsoever on the part of EUAA concerning legal status or effective control over any country, territory, city, or area. Every effort is made to ensure this map is free of errors, but there is no guarantee that the map or its features are either spatially or temporally accurate or fit for a particular use. This map is provided without any warranty of any kind whatsoever, either expressed or implied.
- 392
CRSS, Complex terrorism landscape in Pakistan-Afghanistan region: Afghan Emirate as counter-terror partner, 24 January 2025, url, p. 22
- 393
CRSS, Complex terrorism landscape in Pakistan-Afghanistan region: Afghan Emirate as counter-terror partner, 24 January 2025, url, pp. 6, 23; Sharifi, A., Der »Islamische Staat – Khorasan-Provinz«. Vom regionalen IS-Ableger in Zentralasien zur globalen Terrororganisation [“ Islamic State – Khorasan Province“. From a regional IS branch in Central Asia to a global terrorist organisation”] , 9 December 2024, url, p. 7
- 394
CRSS, Complex terrorism landscape in Pakistan-Afghanistan region: Afghan Emirate as counter-terror partner, 24 January 2025, url, pp. 6, 23; Sharifi, A., Der »Islamische Staat – Khorasan-Provinz«. Vom regionalen IS-Ableger in Zentralasien zur globalen Terrororganisation [“ Islamic State – Khorasan Province“. From a regional IS branch in Central Asia to a global terrorist organisation”] , 9 December 2024, url, pp. 8-9; Zelin, A.Y., ISKP Goes Global: External Operations from Afghanistan, TWI, 11 September 2023, url
- 395
PICSS, Pakistan's Comprehensive National Security Profile – Annual Report 2025, 7 January 2026, url, p. 32
- 396
UN Security Council, Letter dated 21 July 2025 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council [containing thirty-sixth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities], S/2025/482, 24 July 2025, url, para. 86
- 397
US, CRS, Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan, last updated 25 March 2026, url, p. 2
- 398
CRSS, Complex terrorism landscape in Pakistan-Afghanistan region: Afghan Emirate as counter-terror partner, 24 January 2025, url, p. 27
- 399
Jadoon, A., Confronting Pakistan’s Deadly Trifecta of Terrorist Groups, South Asian Voices, 17 October 2025, url; Basit, A., Is the Islamic State of Khorasan Province Losing Momentum?, The Diplomat, 26 June 2025, url
- 400
Basit, A., Pakistan’s Worsening Threat Landscape in 2025, The Diplomat, 31 December 2025, url; Jadoon, A., Confronting Pakistan’s Deadly Trifecta of Terrorist Groups, South Asian Voices, 17 October 2025, url; UN Security Council, Letter dated 6 February 2025 from the President of the Security Council acting in the absence of a Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council [containing thirty-fifth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities], S/2025/71, 6 February 2025, url, para. 89
- 401
DW, Pakistan mosque attack highlights worsening militant threat, 11 February 2026, url
- 402
CRSS, Organizational Structures and Security Implications of TTP and IS-K in Pakistan, 9 February 2026, url; PICSS, Pakistan's Comprehensive National Security Profile – Annual Report 2025, 7 January 2026, url, p. 32
- 403
PICSS, Pakistan's Comprehensive National Security Profile – Annual Report 2025, 7 January 2026, url, p. 32
- 404
Shahab-ud-Din, M., [X], posted on: 6 February 2026, url
- 405
CNN, At least 30 dead in Balochistan explosions, day before Pakistan election, 7 February 2024, url
- 406
PICSS, Militancy, Human Rights, and Strategic Partnerships: Pakistan in a Week of Turmoil and Diplomacy (WR:29 August-4 September), 8 September 2025, url; ECSSR, Implications as ISPP Expands Operational Presence, 16 April 2025, url
- 407
Al Jazeera, Deadly Islamabad bombing sharpens focus on cross-border attacks in Pakistan, 7 February 2026, url
- 408
EUAA map visualisation based on ACLED data for the reference period and publicly available administrative division boundaries.