NIA Pahalgam Probe Finds ISI Unified Command Coordinating J&K and Punjab Terror Groups

India's National Investigation Agency, in its ongoing probe into the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, has identified a unified ISI command structure — overseen by officials named as Brigadier Iqbal and Colonel Owaiz — that coordinates propaganda, online radicalisation and recruitment across terror groups operating in both Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, according to reports citing government sources on August 25, 2026. The command links Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen (J&K-focused) with Babbar Khalsa International and the Khalistan Zindabad Force (Punjab-focused) and The Resistance Front, a Lashkar proxy, while keeping operatives regionally siloed — J&K groups are not deployed into Punjab and vice versa. Investigators said the network relies heavily on Telegram bots and automated channels to push radical content, bomb-making manuals and attack instructions to recruits, a shift from earlier physical-infiltration tradecraft. A government source called it 'a dangerous development,' warning that a unified command makes 'these groups become stronger.' The disclosure follows the August 24 Chandigarh BKI bust and the August 17 Shahzad Bhatti Network case, both cited by Indian officials as evidence of the same cross-border architecture.