The struggle for influence between states is no longer confined to border posts and military deployments. It now unfolds daily in the quiet machinery of digital platforms, state-linked outlets, and the clever arrangement of selected facts. A narrative repeated often enough can harden into truth. A missing detail can leave a permanent scar on public memory. Governments learned this tradecraft during the Cold War. They have since refined it for the age of social media, where a slick graphic or a carefully edited video reaches policy circles faster than any diplomatic cable. The objective remains constant. Shape perception. Assign blame. Let the facts follow if they happen to fit.

This dynamic now defines the information war running between Pakistan and Afghanistan. At the centre of that war sits Al-Mirsaad, an English-language platform that presents itself as a counter-extremism voice and a window into Afghan perspectives. A closer reading, however, reveals a far more deliberate function. The outlet operates as a communications instrument for the Taliban political and security establishment. Its output follows a reliable formula. Pakistan’s security anxieties are dismissed without serious examination. Afghan grievances are treated as self-evident truths requiring no independent verification. The result is not journalism in any meaningful sense. It is selective scrutiny dressed in the language of impartial reporting. By highlighting certain incidents while burying the broader context, Al-Mirsaad adds to the confusion surrounding ground realities. It makes regional counterterrorism coordination more difficult precisely at a moment when coordination is most desperately needed.

Al-Mirsaad insinuates an operational link between ISKP and Pakistani intelligence without producing verifiable evidence.

Al-Mirsaad insinuates an operational link between ISKP and Pakistani intelligence without producing verifiable evidence.

The pattern becomes unmistakable when comparing the platform’s treatment of different militant groups. Islamic State Khorasan Province receives extensive and detailed coverage. The Taliban’s military campaign against the group is real, and that fight deserves........

© Daily Times