Choosing Sides: Islamic State’s influence in South Asia

Bibhu Prasad Routray

Jane's Intelligence Review, November 2014, Pages: 14-17

Key points

• Recent incidents across South Asia attest to a rising threat level from the activities of Islamic State, which includes Afghanistan and Pakistan within its intended ‘caliphate’.
• Islamic State is now encroaching on traditional Al-Qaeda territory in South Asia, as Al-Qaeda’s core leadership struggles to reassert its significance through the establishment of a new branch, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Subcontinent (AQIS).
• Despite recent improvements in counter-terrorism capabilities, a lack of de-radicalisation programmes means that regional security agencies are ill-placed to counter the returnee threat and any further expansion by Islamic State.