Will Taliban regime rein in TTP terrorists operating from Afghan soil against Pakistan?
Pakistan
Will Taliban regime rein in TTP terrorists operating from Afghan soil against Pakistan?
RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – The role of Afghanistan in the reorganistaion of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is quite crucial, although the banned outfit is not directly a part of the group that now rules Pakistan’s western neighbour.
The TTP is responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan, with the deadliest Matung suicide attack claiming 60 innocent lives being the recent one in a string of attacks unleashed on Pakistan following the expiration of the cesefire with the Pakistan government in November last year.
In 2014, Pakistani armed forces were able to effectively dismantle the TTP under the Operation Zarb-e-Azb, driving most of the fighters into Afghanistan, where they regrouped.
In 2021, when the Taliban took over the reins in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US forces, the TTP happened to be the first outfit to celebrate this victory. The TTP in a statement on 17 Aug, 2021, termed the Taliban retake of Kabul a great victory.
TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud, at the time, stated that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan would now work towards the stability of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Mehsud pledged allegiance to Taliban chief Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, and announced to continue an unconditional support for the Taliban.
For the TTP, the biggest benefit the Taliban control over Kabul brought was the release of scores of its operatives. Thus, making the outfit more powerful and ferocious.
The TTP operatives who were set free included senior leaders like Maulvi Faqir Muhammad Bajauri and Mufti Khalid Balti.
Apparently, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan discourages its fighters from indulging in a war against the state of Pakistan.
But some factions within the Afghan Taliban from an ideological perspective consider it to be their religious and national responsibility to back the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
It is noteworthy here that many TTP operatives maintain relations of personal nature with the local residents of Pakistan’s tribal belt. As a result, TTP terrorists find opportunities to safely reorganise in the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Evidences have been found of Afghan suicide bombers’ participation in TTP’s unholy war against Pakistan.
Some Afghan Taliban fighters have even unequivocally stated that fighting a war against Pakistan comprised the next phase of their jehad.
The question remains whether or not the Afghan Taliban rule will rein in TTP terrorists operating from Afghan soil against Pakistan. Or innocent Pakistani citizens will keep falling prey to the barbarism of these TTP terrorists.
