Experts say ISKP’s quick claim may be an operational shield to divert public anger from actual perpetrators
According to the DC, District and Sessions Judge Abdul Hakeem Kakar was travelling from Quetta to Mastung when unidentified assailants targeted his vehicle on the national highway. PHOTO: APP
Following the killing of District and Sessions Judge Abdul Hakeem Kakar in Mastung—an attack drawing swift, nationwide condemnation — security experts and analysts have unmasked a foreign-backed hybrid warfare strategy driven by the BLA–BYC nexus operating under handlers in Delhi and Kabul.
Raising serious concerns over ISKP’s rapid claim of responsibility, experts view the claim as an operational shield designed to deflect public anger away from the actual perpetrators.
In the wake of this targeted strike against state institutions, analysts are expressing grave concern over international delays, directly asking when the UN Security Council will awaken to impose global sanctions against these foreign-backed terror networks and their external patrons.
The targeted attack took place near the Wali Khan Bypass crossing as judicial officers were travelling from Quetta to Mastung. Sessions Judge Kakar and his security guard were killed on the spot, while Additional Sessions Judge Tariq Lashari sustained serious injuries.
Security analysts view this targeted killing as an attempt to intimidate the judiciary, subvert the rule of law, and force a retreat of state authority in Balochistan. Having failed to break the resolve of law enforcement agencies, banned insurgent groups have increasingly turned towards judicial officers, prosecutors, and civilian institutions.
Intelligence experts describe a distinct multi-layered tactic taking root in the region as BLA executes physical ambushes, targeted assassinations, and infrastructure destruction. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) functions as an urban proxy — providing ideological messaging, framing narrative cover, and building public sympathy to shield armed militants from accountability.
Read More: District judge, security guard killed in gun attack in Balochistan’s Mastung
Transnational terror groups like ISKP step in with rapid claims of responsibility hours after an attack to absorb public outrage and obscure the true operational hands.
Given the geographical footprint and BLA’s established presence in Mastung, intelligence analysts view ISKP’s opportunistic claims as part of an operational convergence designed to deflect backlash when civilian or judicial figures are targeted.
Security assessments point to external handlers operating out of Delhi and Kabul who supply logistics, secure communication channels, and financial backing to sustain proxy warfare in Pakistan.
Given the nexus between ethnic insurgent groups and transnational terror proxies, security analysts are calling on global counterterrorism bodies to act.
The experts urge international partners to examine these operational and financial networks under existing UN Security Council resolution frameworks.
They are also increasingly demanding sanctions against designated entities and their external financial patrons to prevent further regional instability.
In separately issued statements, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti reiterated that the state will not succumb to terrorist intimidation. Expressing national solidarity, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi postponed the national Judicial Wellbeing Conference in solidarity with the martyred judge and the legal fraternity.
Security forces have intensified intelligence-based operations in and around Mastung, neutralising multiple hostile combatants.
The Balochistan Bar Council announced a two-day province-wide court boycott and three days of official mourning, calling for enhanced security measures for judicial personnel.
