The growing convergence of emerging technologies and terrorism is redefining the security paradigm of Afghanistan-Pakistan region. While militant outfits such as Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Pakistani Taliban have long resorted towards conventional guerilla tactics, a new trend of utilizing emerging technologies is complicating the regional security calculus. Drawing upon recent incidents, the militant outfits are increasingly leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and drone technology to enhance their ideological reach, operational effectiveness, anonymity and communication capabilities. The article highlights the increasing use of drones and AI by prominent militant outfits in Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
In the past two decades, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and Al-Qaeda have experimented with emerging technologies to maximize the operational effectiveness. This has set precedent for the regional affiliates to explore similar technologies. ISIL initially employed drones for reconnaissance and propaganda. However, by 2016, the group successfully weaponized them, as evidenced by the fatal drone attack in norther Iraq, resulting in the killing of two French Special Forces’ soldiers and two Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers. Since 2001, Al-Qaeda had devised multiple plots, although most of them were thwarted by the intelligence and security forces before execution.
Other than drone technology ISIL increasingly displayed its interest in exploiting self-driving cars, to be used in place of suicide bombers. The group’s emergence coincided with the popularization of the communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram which the group highly leveraged for communication and propaganda purposes.
Between June 2023 and November 2023, pro-Al-Qaeda media outlets released at least four posters generated by AI. These posters featured violent jihadist imagery superimposed over pictures of tanks, American flags, and soldiers generated by AI. One of the posters also featured the picture of the late Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri who was killed an American drone strike in July 2022. Due to various distortions in the posters, AI could be easily detected.
Since the fall of Kabul in August 2021, ISKP has been increasingly using AI to expand its agenda. In 2023, the group conducted online training programs for media operatives producing AI-based digital content. On August 15, 2023, the group published a user guide for privacy protection while using AI. To emotionally engage its audiences, it has released nasheeds (religious songs) produced by generative AI. Inspired by the group’s tactics, the IS supporters have started using AI for faster transcription and translation of propaganda messages to target larger audiences.
Following the Crocus City Hall attack in March 2024, ISKP supporters released a deep fake news bulletin, claiming responsibility and exaggerating scale of destruction. In May 2024, AI-generated news bulletins emerged for two other attacks, Bamiyan attack and Kandahar car bombing.
While ISKP has not launched a confirmed drone attack so far, in 2024, the group released at least five manuals explaining on how to weaponize commercially available drones. The manuals specifically targeted the lone actors; independent individuals who carry out terrorist attacks without any formal affiliation with a terrorist outfit. In addition, the group had issued a threat to use drones to target Paris Olympics 2024 which indicate towards group’s clear intention to use drone technology in future.
The Taliban utilized drone technology during their insurgency period between 2020 and 2021. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has largely drawn its ideological and operational influence from Afghan Taliban, had initially abstained from using drones. However, in February 2025, TTP launched a drone attack on a Pakistani check post. The attack took place in Sararogha, South Waziristan. The drone carried explosives to be dropped on the security infrastructure.
Between July and September 2024, Hafiz Gul Bahdur Group, a Pakistani Taliban group which has collaborated with TTP on various instances, utilized commercially made DJI Chinese quadcopters with attached Improvised Explosive devices (IEDs) to target security infrastructure. The attacks took place on at least six different instances, primarily in North Waziristan. A video from October 2024 showed Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) militants operating a DJI Matrice 350 RTK drone.
Although, the Pakistani Taliban have not embraced the trend of using AI for their media operations, it is highly probable that they will adopt it in the future due to its growing popularity and usefulness. Since the advent of Noor Wali Mehsud, the fourth and current Emir of TTP, the group enhanced its media operations. Its official outlet, Umar media, produces high quality and sophisticated multilingual content. In March 2023, it released a first English documentary, suggesting expansion of its recruitment ambitions and targeting educated youth. The enhancement of its media operations in recent years indicates a high possibility that the group will resort towards AI to further grow its social media presence.
In the evolving landscape of regional and global security, the trends of emerging technology represents a major cause of concern for governments. These groups are not solely relying on conventional weapons but using new technologies to enhance their media and operational reach. Drones have remained a popular choice for regional militants for over a decade as they provide them with operational advantage due to cost-effectiveness and minimal training requirements. The adoption of drones by militants in Af-Pak region, although currently in its nascent stages, can become a significant challenge for counter terrorism forces by enabling remote, hard-to-detect terrorist attacks.
The recent widespread adoption and popularization of generative AI has the potential to expand media outreach of terrorist organizations exponentially. In the past, the terrorist outfits did not focus on quality production but primarily on the propaganda message. However, AI tools can mitigate this by producing high quality images and videos using a simple prompt. The visual appeal of AI-generated content creates a game-like effect, attracting young minds, compared to low quality battlefield footage. The threat of generative AI use to produce social media content becomes more alarming with the trend of lone wolf terrorism on the rise. In addition, AI prompts may also be exploited to generate guidelines on conducting terrorism To counter this threat, regional security and intelligence forces need to work together to deny these outfits access to these platforms. AI offers a lot of potential in counterterrorism by providing predictive analytics and foreseeing potential terrorist threats. Without joint cooperation across multiple states, it becomes highly difficult to counter non-state actors.
Anoshay Fatima
The author is a distinguished Political Science graduate from the International Islamic University, Islamabad. During her research experience at distinguished think tanks such as ISSRA (NDU) and IRS, she has contributed to strategic studies on South Asia and Afghanistan. Her work bridges academic rigor and policy-relevant analysis.
