In a significant counterterrorism breakthrough, Bangladesh’s National Security Intelligence (NSI) has unveiled a disturbing regional operation orchestrated by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
The findings expose how India’s premier intelligence agency has been clandestinely recruiting Bangladeshi nationals to infiltrate Fitna-al-Khawarij (FaK) net-works—terrorist outfits operating inside Pakistan under the guise of religious movements. This revelation not only highlights the transnational character of India’s hybrid warfare but also underscores a deliberate strategy of externalizing terrorism while portraying itself as a victim of cross-border militancy.
RAW’s clandestine network and objectives: According to NSI officials, RAW has systematically recruited and deployed Bangladeshi citizens as expendable operatives to penetrate Pakistan’s territory under the cover of ideological radicalization. The intelligence report con-firms that 25 Bangladeshi nationals, excluding four who were killed in Afghanistan, are currently active within Pakistan as part of RAW-linked FaK cells.
An Express Tribune investigation quoted NSI sources stating that these recruits were “used as puppets and sent into Pakistani land like disposable commodities, under the façade of religious fanaticism.” This operation demonstrates India’s evolving use of proxy terrorism, employing third-country nationals to destabilize Pakistan while maintaining plausible deniability and shielding its direct involvement from international scrutiny.
Afghan and regional linkages: The investigation further revealed that several FaK sponsors expelled from Afghanistan had been redirected into Pakistan through covert Indian support channels. Afghan security officials confirmed that these individuals maintained prior connections with RAW-linked facilitators before their relocation. This transnational link spanning India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan reflects a sophisticated strategy aimed at sustaining asymmetric pressure on Pakistan through surrogate actors and ideological manipulation.
Arrests corroborating RAW’s footprint: Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) has played a crucial role in dismantling portions of this network. On 2 July 2025, ATU apprehended Ahmed Foysal, who had entered Afghanistan on 6 November 2024 to participate in FaK-aligned terrorist activities. His interrogation established clear lines of communication between RAW handlers and ideological recruiters operating in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Similarly, on 14 July 2025, ATU arrested Dr. Shamin Mahfuz, leader of Jamatul Ansar Fil Hin-dal Sharqiya (JFHS), a militant organization linked to both FaK and RAW. Dr. Mahfuz, radicalized through sustained contact with Indian operatives, had been attempting to establish an “Islamic State” in Bangladesh. Investigations revealed that JFHS and its affiliates actively dispatched young recruits for combat and ideological training within Indian-sponsored FaK networks, using distorted narratives of jihad and Palestinian retribution to mobilize support.
A call for regional accountability: The Bangladesh NSI revelations have peeled back the façade of India’s counter-terror narrative, exposing an intelligence apparatus willing to exploit extremism as a geopolitical tool. The revelations demand a measured but firm international response—one that holds states accountable for weaponizing terrorism under the guise of security policy. If South Asia is to achieve lasting peace, regional stakeholders must reject the use of proxy militancy as an instrument of policy and strengthen cooperative intelligence mechanisms to expose and neutralize such operations. The dismantling of the architecture of deception is imperative not only for Pakistan’s stability but for credibility and peace of entire region.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
