Kabul Gurdwara attack was masterminded in Pakistan by ISI-former Lashkar commander

New Delhi, Apr 05: Mawlawi Abdullah alias Aslma Farooqi, the emir of the Islamic State Khorasan has been arrested in Afghanistan in connection with the Kabul. Gurdwara attack. It may be recalled that nearly 25 persons were killed in the attack.

Farooqi, a former commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had been roped in by the ISI to handle the Afghanistan wing of the ISIS.

Following the attack, Indian agencies had said that this was a classic covert false flag operation by the ISI.

While the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, investigations had found that operatives of several other terror groups were part of the operation. When the ISIS was setting up its modules in Afghanistan, the ISI provided a large number of operatives from its proxy outfits in a bid to aid the outfit.

Farooqi asked to take over the leadership of the ISI at the behest of the ISI. The ISI stepped in to aid the ISIS in Afghanistan for various reasons. For one attacks by the ISIS could take the heat away from the Taliban and the ISI itself.

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that the ISIS in Afghanistan has since day one been nurtured by the ISI. It has provided the outfit with logistics, men, women, arms and ammunition.

The brief for the ISI was clear and that it should recruit as many from the sub-continent, the focus being largely on India. The ISIS has been successful in radicalising a large number of Indian Muslim youth and also taking them into its fold. Over 20 persons from Kerala alone have joined the ISIS in Afghanistan.

The Indian intelligence says that in the Kabul attack, there is a clear ISI hand. It is not possible for the ISIS to carry out an attack of this magnitude without the help of an agency such as the ISI. The ISIS Khorasan is relatively new in the region and needs the support of agencies such as the ISI.

Moreover if one looks at the composition of the ISIS Khorasan, there are operatives from various groups in it. There are operatives of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Taliban part of the outfit and each one is handpicked by the ISI.