Terror Groups Shift From PoK to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa After Indian Strikes

Terror outfits in Pakistan, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), are relocating from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), intelligence inputs suggest — a shift seen as fallout of the Indian military’s Operation Sindoor in May, which destroyed multiple terror camps and killed around 100 militants.

On May 7, Indian forces struck nine terror sites in Pakistan and PoK, including JeM’s Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Markaz Taiba near Muridke, in addition to camps in Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bhimber, and Sialkot. The operation also targeted 13 Pakistani airbases and military installations before a ceasefire took hold on May 10.

Why KPK?
According to officials, terror groups now view PoK as highly vulnerable to Indian precision strikes and see KPK as offering greater security due to its rugged terrain, proximity to the Afghan border, and long-standing jihadi safe havens dating back to the Afghan war. The relocation is reportedly being facilitated by elements of the Pakistani state, with JeM rallies held under police protection and support from religious-political groups like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).

Recruitment Push
On September 14, just before the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match, JeM organized a large gathering in Garhi Habibullah, Mansehra district, under the guise of a Deobandi religious event. Intelligence reports say the rally — attended by JeM’s KPK chief Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a close associate of founder Masood Azhar — was in fact a recruitment drive for JeM’s expanding Mansehra training facility, Markaz Shohada-e-Islam.

Analysts say the timing and framing of such events indicate an effort to normalize militant recruitment under religious-political cover, part of a broader tactical shift after Operation Sindoor dismantled critical PoK-based infrastructure.