Champions Trophy 2025: Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau warns of alleged plot to kidnap foreigners

Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau has issued a warning to security forces, alterting them about an alleged plot by covert groups, including Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ISIS and other Balochistan-based groups, to abduct foreign nationals attending the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 for ransom. It has emerged that the terrorist organisation are targetting Chinese and Arab nationals.

The ISKP is said to be watching over airports, residential areas, ports, and offices; essentially spaces which are frequently visited by people from the aforementioned countries. As per a report, quoted by India Today, it is believed that the group aims on moving the kidnapped individuals between safe houses particularly in the night to dodge security forces. 

There have been persistent issues in relation to Pakistan hosting major international tournaments in the past due to security concerns. The 2024 attack on Chinese engineers in Shangla as well as the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore have been two major events in the past which have plagued the nation. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Intelligence Agency, General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), has alerted authorities in relation to the attacks in key locations. For the unversed, in 2024, Al Azaim Media released a 19-minute video in which they claimed that cricket was a Western tool for intellectual warfare targetted against the Muslim community.

The terror group argued that the sport promoted sentiments of nationalistic propaganda, something which went against Islam's jihadist outlook. They went as far as criticizing the Taliban for supporting the Afghanistan cricket team in their endeavors for climbing up in international cricket.