What is Pakistan's Brigade 313 in spotlight after Pak senator's interview?

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A recent interview of Pakistani Senator Sherry Rehman with Sky News anchor Yalda Hakim has put a spotlight on a shadowy militant group linked to al-Qaeda — Brigade 313. Rehman's deflections, alongside earlier admissions from Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif about the country's history with terror outfits, have once again highlighted Islamabad's proxy warfare strategies read more
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman found herself at the centre of controversy after evading direct questions about the secretive terror outfit known as Brigade 313, during a recent interview.
The interaction, conducted by Sky News journalist Yalda Hakim, has since brought renewed global attention to the group's role within Pakistan and its wider connections to al-Qaeda and other jihadist networks.
Rehman repeatedly claimed that 'Pakistan is a changed country' and dismissed several questions as promoting 'India's narrative.'
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How Rehman evaded questions about Brigade 313
Rehman was asked about the alleged involvement of Brigade 313 in terrorist activities, particularly in Kashmir.
Citing assessments from the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC), journalist Yalda Hakim questioned whether the group — described as 'al-Qaeda in Pakistan' — was responsible for several attacks targeting India.
Rehman responded by questioning the credibility of the sources cited, stating: 'Most of the international analysts you are quoting are strongly aligned with India's narrative. They tell only India's story.'
What is Brigade 313? Is it Al Qaeda in Pakistan?
I ask Vice President of the Pakistan People's Party Senator Sherry Rehman about ongoing terrorist activity in Pakistan.
Watch the full exchange on YouTube. pic.twitter.com/toXchgeMW5 — Yalda Hakim (@SkyYaldaHakim) June 9, 2025
She dismissed the notion that Pakistan continues to support such groups, asserting: 'Pakistan is a changed country now…we are fighting terrorism.'
When asked about the Jaish-e-Mohammed's claim that 10 family members of its chief Masood Azhar were killed in Operation Sindoor, Rehman said 'children are not leaders,' and sought to redirect the conversation by pointing to internal insurgencies within India.
'There are 100 insurgencies running in India. Are we responsible for what goes on there? That's what this amounts to…and how does this link to terrorist attack in Kashmir?' she asked.
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Rehman suggested that such narratives could be easily constructed, saying, 'I don't know who told you this, but I can produce any number of pages saying all this. Perhaps we should also produce a fact sheet and more than a fact sheet…a digital dossier.'
What we know about Brigade 313
Brigade 313 is widely considered one of the most secretive and dangerous jihadist formations to have emerged from Pakistan in the early 2000s.
The group was founded by Ilyas Kashmiri, a former Pakistani Army Special Services Group (SSG) commando turned al-Qaeda commander. He also held senior positions within Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), and later served as a key figure in al-Qaeda's South Asian operations.
Kashmiri was designated a global terrorist by both the United States and the United Nations before reportedly being killed in a US drone strike in 2011.
The name '313' draws from Islamic tradition, referring to the 313 soldiers who fought alongside Prophet Muhammad in the Battle of Badr. This symbolism has been used to frame the group's violent ideology within a broader religious narrative.
Brigade 313 is not a standalone organisation but rather a composite outfit operating under al-Qaeda's Lashkar al-Zil or 'Shadow Army.'
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The group has drawn its operatives from various banned militant organisations such as the Taliban, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), HUJI, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and Jundallah.
Some of its cadre reportedly include defectors from Pakistan's military and intelligence services.
What Brigade 313's history tells us
Under Kashmiri's leadership, Brigade 313 was linked to several high-profile terror attacks:
2003 : Attempted assassination of Pakistan's then-president Pervez Musharraf.
2008 : Killing of Major General Faisal Alvi, a retired SSG officer who had threatened to expose Taliban links with military elites.
2009 : Attack on Pakistan Army General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, which resulted in 17 fatalities.
2009 : A suicide bombing in Afghanistan's Khost province targeting U.S. assets.
2011: Assault on the Pakistani Naval Base in Karachi, killing 14 military personnel, reportedly in retaliation for the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Brigade 313 also had alleged links to global terror operations, including plots in the United States. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as noted by the Combating Terrorism Center, documented Brigade 313's presence in multiple European cities.
Ilyas Kashmiri was implicated in the 2009 New York subway bombing plot and a planned attack on Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
Following Kashmiri's reported death, the leadership is believed to have passed to a figure known as Shah Sahib.
Despite such leadership changes, the group continued its operations, sometimes under different labels, including through newer proxy outfits like The Resistance Front (TRF) and People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which were active in Kashmir.
What we know of Pakistan's relationship with Brigade 313
Although Pakistan has officially distanced itself from Brigade 313, international analysts maintain that the group continues to function under the radar, with tacit support or at least tolerance from segments of Pakistan's security establishment.
A key element in Brigade 313's operational strategy is its 'white-label' modus operandi. Unlike groups such as JeM or LeT that openly claim responsibility for attacks, Brigade 313 operates covertly, conducting assaults that are rarely acknowledged.
This allows al-Qaeda to maintain plausible deniability, and for Pakistan's state actors to avoid international scrutiny.
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The group reportedly operates not just in Pakistan's tribal areas and Balochistan but also has a footprint in urban centres like Karachi and Lahore.
Its collaboration with other jihadist factions such as the Haqqani Network, LeT, and JeM has made it a pivotal player in the broader South Asian terror landscape.
This dynamic highlights what many analysts describe as Pakistan's long-standing strategy of using militant proxies to maintain strategic depth — especially in its engagements with India and Afghanistan.
Why Pakistan's false narrative continues to fail
The recent interview of Sherry Rehman follows earlier remarks made by Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who admitted on Sky News that 'we have been doing this dirty work for the US for the past three decades, including the West and the United Kingdom.'
This candid admission of past collaboration with militant groups marked a rare public acknowledgment of a fact long debated in international circles.
Despite this, senior politicians like Rehman now assert that Pakistan is shedding its past. 'You keep on talking about the past because it was…We are fighting terrorism. Pakistan is a changed country now,' she said.
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Yet, the consistent ambiguity surrounding groups like Brigade 313, and the country's historical ties with such organisations, continue to raise doubts about how much has actually changed.
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While efforts to crack down on extremism have been publicly emphasised by Islamabad, the opacity and evolution of outfits like Brigade 313 suggest that such groups may still be operating from the shadows, beyond the reach of public accountability or international oversight.
With inputs from agencies