For years, Kabul has accused Islamabad of using the Islamic State’s Khorasan arm (ISKP) as a pawn in its regional game. That charge, long dismissed as rhetoric, is looking harder to ignore. ISKP’s recent strikes in restive Balochistan have only deepened suspicions that Pakistan’s deep state may be quietly enabling the group for its own ends. This time, the extremist outfit seems to be deployed – directly or by design – to blunt the Baloch insurgency and silence a growing civil resistance.

Recently, in a chilling development on September 2, the Islamic State Pakistan Province (ISPP), a sub-branch of ISKP, orchestrated a suicide bombing in Quetta, targeting a rally of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M). The ghastly attack ended up killing 12 people and left another 32 wounded.

A few months ago, in a 36-minute-long, Pashto-language video released by the ISKP’s Al-Azaim Media on May 25, the group had declared war on armed Baloch nationalist groups as well as political organizations and rights groups.

The group alleged that in March this year, Baloch insurgents attacked one of its training camps in the Mastung district of the province, killing 30 of its fighters. This accusation also confirmed reports and speculations about ISKP’s operational presence in the district. It is also important to note here that in late March, the chairman of the BNP-M, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, and other supporters of the........

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