Islamabad, April 22 Pakistan-incubated terrorism is no longer a distant or abstract threat but has evolved into a direct security challenge for Europe, risking the spillover of external unrest into a persistent internal instability, a report said on Wednesday.
Writing for ‘Eurasia Review’, Dimitra Staikou, a Greek lawyer, writer, and journalist, noted that while Pakistan is attempting to reshape its global image by leveraging the recognition of its perceived mediating role in US-Iran tensions, the ground reality remains unchanged. She stressed that Pakistan continues to serve as a “breeding ground and safe haven” for terrorist groups that persist, regenerate and steadily erode regional stability and security.
“One year has passed since the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 innocent people, leaving behind not only human loss but also a deep imprint of fear and instability across the region of Jammu and Kashmir. The cold-blooded execution of the victims—after they were segregated based on their religion—laid bare the human cost of terrorism and the systematic targeting of civilians as an instrument of political violence,” Staikou detailed.
The expert stressed that the Pahalgam terror attack carried out by the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit cannot be viewed as an isolated incident but reflected a systematic and deeply entrenched machinery of violence.
“At the core of this mechanism lies The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), underscoring the deliberate and continued use of extremist proxies by Pakistan. The operations of such groups are neither accidental nor spontaneous; they form part of a broader strategy aimed at destabilising the region, sustaining tension, and undermining any prospects for peace. In this context, terrorism does not merely function as a tool of pressure—it constitutes a structural component of a policy that continues to generate violence with consistency and intent,” Staikou emphasised.
According to the report, recent years have witnessed a clear trend toward the “mainstreaming” of terrorist organisations within Pakistan, with groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) expanding their activities beyond conventional operational domains.
In 2025, under the leadership of Masood Azhar, JeM intensified recruitment networks in Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and established a women’s wing, 'Jamaat-ul-Mominat', functioning as a mechanism of ideological dissemination and social mobilisation. At the same time, between 2024 and 2026, LeT expanded its training infrastructure by developing specialised units such as the so-called ‘Water Wing', aimed at maritime operations, it mentioned.
“These developments, combined with ongoing recruitment campaigns, public mobilisation rallies, and anti-India rhetoric, indicate that these organisations are no longer operating solely as underground networks but as structures with increasing social presence and the capacity to systematically reproduce radicalisation," it further added.
Asserting that the implications for Europe are immediate, the report said that the historical record shows terror networks with “operational or logistical” links to Pakistan have operated far beyond South Asia, targeting the West through “transnational planning, training, and financing structures”.
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