Two explosions in the districts of Jalandhar and Amritsar, in Punjab, carried out by the Khalistan Liberation Army, rocked the state on 5th May 2026. The blasts occurred within a span of nearly two hours, just days after another blast on 27th April near Patiala. The latter took place near railway tracks while the twin blasts happened near the Army cantonment and Border Security Force (BSF) complex. The three blasts took place in less than 10 days altogether and raised concerns of a resurgence in terror activities. The Punjab police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have reported a spike in terror modules backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), involving the dropping of hand grenades, IED and other bombs. ISI induced terror is not new to Punjab, as the state has a long history of insurgency, violence, narco and other forms of terrorism. However, Punjab has been relatively peaceful since the turn of the 21st century, albeit the recent terror bombings point towards renewed attempts at creating disturbances as well as a need to review the transnational sources behind these attacks.
Historical Roots of Terrorism in Punjab
Growth of terrorism in the region can be traced back to the 1980s, which witnessed an increase in insurgency and radical support for a Sikh state, separate from India, in the form of ‘Khalistan’. The large-scale violence in this period as well as ISI’s funding and assistance further compounded the militancy and Khalistan issue. This unrest continued well into the 1990s, when numerous terrorist attacks like the Air India Flight 182 bombing transpired in June 1985, in the name of Khalistan. Afterwards, support for Khalistan mainly immigrated to certain sections of the Sikh diaspora living outside India, in places such as Canada, UK, US and Australia.
ISI Backed Terror Nexus
ISI’s history of backing terror groups is well documented by terror experts like Gus Martin, who commented on its” long history of supporting designated terrorist groups and pro-Independence groups operating in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, which fight against Indian interests.” Similar sentiments on Pakistan’s role in Khalistani extremism are expressed by Canadian journalists and academics, where the extremism is perhaps most concentrated. ISI’s role in instigating the separatist violence as well as help in smuggling of drugs and arms in Punjab resulted in a Khalistan cum narcoterrorism nexus, that exists till date. It combines human trafficking, money-laundering, contract killings, drug supply, and propaganda channels for radicalisation, in a money minting, lucrative proxy warfare strategy against India. Arrested drug peddlers have been found to receive supply from across the Western borders through drones or underground tunnels and groups like Babbar Khalsa International, often making Punjab just their transit hub for deeper penetration within India. Pakistan uses the Khalistan sentiment as one of many routes to destabilising Punjab and India’s internal security posture. Its approach after the defeat of the insurgency in Punjab, was to divide the structure along functional lines: handling coordination through Pakistan and propaganda from UK, US, and Canada. Groups sympathetic to dreams of Khalistan raise funding for terrorism through crowdfunding, cryptocurrency, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities. They orchestrate targeted murders in Punjab and sustain the illegal narcotics trade through Pakistan, in a two-way strategy. The ample supply of drugs injected in the state, coupled with rising unemployment, also make it easy to radicalise youth and provides foot soldiers for their terrorist cause. Additionally, the drug peddlers often find refuge in some local police personnel, that are privy to the smuggling but turn a blind eye for their own financial benefit. This is attested by the recent crackdown on such police officers and reflects the requirement to tackle collusive forces within India, that undermine counterterrorism efforts. The terror attacks today are not equivalent to the 1984 insurgency but represent instability reborn in the form of a more direct, cross border terror model from foreign elements.
Conclusion
The timing of the twin blasts in Punjab, right before the anniversary of Operation Sindoor, point towards a broader ISI coordination behind the attack. Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav attributed the blasts to an ISI- backed conspiracy. It is a warning sign for the security officials to pay greater attention to foreign handlers in this terror racket, because a similar blast outside the Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) office in Chandigarh in April, was arranged on the direction of foreign operatives based in Europe. Although local security has remained heightened, regard to safety of central government installations, which seems to be the target of these terror blasts, may be always needed. Moreover, a sensor fusion system combining radar and acoustic detection, that can neutralise targets immediately, would address the drones employed by terrorists across the border.
