Homegrown snakes bare their fangs: Lashkar commander exposes Pakistan’s rot, rips into govt over debt and decay | WATCH

Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Mohammad Ashfaq Rana publicly criticized the Pakistani government, exposing cracks in the state's long-standing support for militant groups. His outburst signals eroding control as economic crisis and discontent weaken Islamabad's grip.

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A rare and telling spectacle is unfolding in Pakistan. A senior commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror outfit long nurtured, protected, and deployed by the Pakistani state, has turned his guns inward. Mohammad Ashfaq Rana’s public tirade against the Pakistani government is not just an angry rant. It is a crack in a system that Islamabad has spent decades building, funding, and denying.

In a video that has now circulated widely on social media, Rana openly attacks the Pakistani government, likening the condition of Punjab province to what he calls the “pathetic” state of Balochistan. He accuses those in power of theft, incompetence, and moral collapse. For a Lashkar commander to speak in this register, openly and without fear, marks a sharp departure from the group’s traditional discipline of silence when it comes to domestic politics.

🚨🇵🇰👹 Exclusive - OSINT Report:

Lashkar-e-Taiba has begun openly targeting the PaK government. Senior Lashkar-e-taiba commander Mhd Ashfaq Rana is publicly attacking the PaK govt, comparing Punjab to the pathetic condition of Balochistan and calling the govt thieves. This… pic.twitter.com/miimzdIDPk — OsintTV 📺 (@OsintTV) January 9, 2026

This is no ordinary dissident voice. Lashkar-e-Taiba is not an outlaw fringe that grew despite the state. It is a product of it. From training camps to ideological cover, Lashkar’s rise was enabled by Pakistan’s security establishment, particularly the Army, which viewed the group as a low-cost strategic asset against India. That an organisation so deeply embedded in the state’s proxy war ecosystem is now publicly lashing out at its sponsors should alarm Islamabad.

Rana’s criticism went further. He mocked Pakistan’s addiction to foreign loans, naming the International Monetary Fund, China, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others.

“Till today, the loans Pakistan has taken from the IMF, the World Bank, the Commonwealth, the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia and others make it seem as if no country in the world has been left. Every child born in Pakistan is burdened with debt worth several lakhs. They claim they have not indulged in corruption, but even if we accept that argument, the sheer volume of loans Pakistan has taken raises a question. If that money had been invested within the country, Pakistan would today be more beautiful and developed than Saudi Arabia, the UK, or Spain,” Rana is heard saying in the video.

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The irony is staggering. A commander of a UN-designated terror group is lecturing the Pakistani state on economic humiliation and dependency. Yet this is the monster Pakistan created, armed with ideological certainty and now unafraid to expose the rot at the top.

For years, Pakistan’s rulers believed they could control these groups indefinitely. Terror outfits were tools to be switched on or off, redirected outward while the state maintained internal order. That illusion is collapsing. When the economy is in free fall, legitimacy is eroding, and even militant proxies sense weakness, loyalty becomes optional.

The warning signs have been visible. From jihadist outfits questioning Islamabad’s commitment to “Islamic causes” to terrorists quietly resenting budget cuts and shifting priorities, the relationship has been fraying. Rana’s outburst merely makes public what was long whispered.

Pakistan’s generals and politicians should recognise this moment for what it is. These are not rebels seeking reform. These are homegrown extremists who were fed, trained, and unleashed. History shows that such forces rarely retire quietly. When proxies begin to sneer at their patrons, it is not courage. It is confidence that the state can no longer control the fire it once lit.