Indian intelligence agencies have identified the Khalistan Liberation Army (KLA) as the most potent and battle-ready terror outfit operating under Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) patronage — a group that has been deliberately kept in the shadows while better-known organisations such as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) absorb security attention in Punjab. Officials warn that the KLA's formal re-activation could mark a dangerous escalation in cross-border terrorism targeting India.

The ISI's Deliberate Misdirection Strategy

According to officials familiar with intelligence assessments, the ISI has spent the last several years running a calculated smokescreen operation. By pushing the BKI to the forefront of Khalistan-linked violence — and occasionally directing the KZF and KLF to claim responsibility for attacks — the Pakistani spy agency has ensured that the KLA stays below the radar of Indian security agencies.

An official said the ISI's strategy is to have Indian agencies chase groups such as the BKI, KLF, and KZF, while keeping the KLA's activities low-key and under wraps. Post-attack claim confusion has been a key tool: some of the low-intensity explosions that have rocked Punjab have been claimed by the KLA, others by the KLF — a deliberate effort, officials say, to confuse investigating agencies about the true organisational structure on the ground.

KLA's Origins and Current Threat Profile

Historically, the KLA operated as a smaller faction within the wider Khalistani network during the 1990s, typically working alongside the BKI and KZF. It was also a faction group of the KLF. However, intelligence agencies now assess that the ISI has fundamentally changed its role — from proxy to principal.

Officials say the KLA currently has a cadre of heavily-trained operatives, with the ISI having roped in top trainers from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad to work alongside KLA personnel. The Intelligence Bureau has indicated that the scale of training investment the ISI has put into KLA cadres is significant. The group is described as battle-ready, awaiting only a formal order for full re-activation.

Criminal Networks and Drug Syndicate Links

Beyond its trained operatives, the KLA has reportedly established connections with criminal networks and drug syndicates operating in Punjab — a convergence that security analysts say amplifies both its funding capacity and its reach into local communities. This nexus between terror outfits and organised crime has been a recurring concern for Punjab Police and central agencies alike.

Officials note that six low-intensity attacks have taken place in Punjab this year alone. These should not be read as an inability to mount larger strikes, officials caution — rather, they represent a deliberate strategy to keep the Punjab Police and central agencies stretched and distracted, buying time for the ISI to position the KLA for a larger operation.

What Security Agencies Are Watching

Intelligence assessments suggest a growing sense of desperation within the Khalistan movement's ISI-backed ecosystem, which officials say is driving the current tempo of low-intensity strikes. According to officials, the KLA is expected to step out of its proxy avatar in the months ahead and begin taking the lead role in operations.

Indian agencies have also noted a pattern where the ISI floats the KLA's name after an incident, only for investigations to surface a loosely connected proxy — a tactic that has historically deflected scrutiny from the group's actual capabilities. Security agencies are now working to close that intelligence gap before a full re-activation can be executed.