Pakistan’s ISI Targeting Chinese Investment Projects in Afghanistan, Claims Expert

Kabul — Afghan intelligence analyst and counterterrorism expert Ajmal Sohail has alleged that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is increasingly targeting Chinese investment and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan in a bid to maintain its geopolitical influence in the region.

In an interview with The Diplomat magazine, Sohail — co-founder and co-president of the Counter Narco-Terrorism Alliance Germany — said Islamabad is concerned that Beijing’s growing direct engagement with Kabul could weaken Pakistan’s strategic leverage.

“Pakistan’s ISI has increasingly shifted towards targeting Chinese infrastructure and investment projects in Afghanistan. This reflects Islamabad’s concern that Beijing’s expanding engagement with Kabul, including mining operations, foreign investments and possible transit routes, could reduce Pakistan’s geopolitical influence,” he said.

According to Sohail, Pakistan is trying to ensure that China continues to rely primarily on the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for regional connectivity.

He claimed that one strategy involves encouraging guerrilla-style attacks on foreign investors and tourists, with Chinese nationals allegedly becoming symbolic targets aimed at creating insecurity around Chinese ventures in Afghanistan.

Sohail also highlighted the strategic importance of the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province. The corridor could potentially provide China with an alternative trade route that bypasses Pakistan.

“If China succeeds in building direct infrastructure links through Afghanistan, Pakistan’s role as a strategic intermediary weakens. The ISI’s actions are intended to redirect Beijing’s dependence back toward Pakistan, ensuring that CPEC remains the primary route for China’s regional ambitions,” he told the magazine.

Speaking about a recent arms seizure, Sohail said Taliban intelligence intercepted a shipment of around 525 weapons and 27,000 rounds of ammunition at the Torkham Border Crossing on February 21. The weapons were allegedly hidden in trucks and destined for the Wakhan Corridor via the Omari refugee camp.

He claimed the consignment was linked to operations orchestrated by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, including both ISI and military intelligence units, to arm anti-Taliban groups and separatist factions.

Sohail further alleged that organisations such as the Afghanistan Independence Front, as well as elements associated with Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), were among groups receiving arms to target Chinese mining companies and foreign investors operating in Afghanistan.

He also mentioned a faction referred to as the “Tajikistan Taliban”, reportedly led by Mahdi Arslan and Muhammad Sharipov, which he claimed operates from the Chitral mountain range with alleged support from Pakistani intelligence.

According to Sohail, the February 21 weapons seizure highlights the ongoing proxy tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban authorities, and underscores the broader risks posed by arms proliferation, cross-border militancy and the use of extremist groups for strategic purposes.

He added that Pakistan’s alleged reliance on proxy militant groups to advance strategic interests follows a long-standing pattern dating back to the Soviet era and continuing through the post-9/11 period.

With inputs from IANS