Pakistani Taliban Explained

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
Native Name Lang:ur
Other Name:Pakistani Taliban
(Urdu: پاکستانی طالبان)
War:Global War on Terrorism, Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Attacks:2008 Barcelona terror plot, 2010 Sikh beheadings by the Taliban, Kidnapping of Swiss tourists in Balochistan, 2014 Peshawar school massacre, Attack on Malala Yousafzai, 2016 Lahore suicide bombing, Lahore church bombings, Dasu bus attack
Active:December 2007 – present
Motives:Fundamentalism[1] [2] [3]
Pashtunwali[4]
Deobandi[5] [6]
Sectarianism[7]
Separatism[8] [9] [10] [11]
Leaders:
Headquarters:Eastern Afghanistan[16]
Allegiance: (self-declared, publicly rejected by IEA)[17] [18]
Ideology:Deobandi
Islamic fundamentalism[19]
Pashtunwali
Sectarianism
Separatism
Size:
Allies:
Opponents:
Designated As Terror Group By: Argentina[27]
Bahrain[28]
Canada
[29]
Japan[30]
New Zealand[31]
United Arab Emirates[32] [33] [34]


[35] [36]

The Pakistani Taliban, formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current leader is Noor Wali Mehsud, who has publicly pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban (a.k.a. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan).[37] [12] The Pakistani Taliban share a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and have assisted them in the 2001–2021 war, but the two groups have separate operation and command structures.[38] [39]

Most Taliban groups in Pakistan coalesce under the TTP.[40] Among the stated objectives of TTP is resistance against the Pakistani state.[41] The TTP's aim is to overthrow the government of Pakistan by waging a terrorist campaign against the Pakistan armed forces and the state. The TTP depends on the tribal belt along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, from which it draws its recruits. The TTP receives ideological guidance from and maintains ties with al-Qaeda. After the Pakistani military operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, some of the TTP militants escaped from Pakistan to Afghanistan,[42] where some of them joined Islamic State – Khorasan Province, while others remained part of the TTP.[43], there are around 3,000 to 4,000 TTP militants in Afghanistan, according to a United States Department of Defense report.[44] Between July and November 2020, the Amjad Farouqi group, one faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Musa Shaheed Karwan group, Mehsud factions of the TTP, Mohmand Taliban, Bajaur Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, and Hizb-ul-Ahrar merged with TTP. This reorganization made TTP more deadly and led to increased attacks.[45]

In 2020, after years of factionalism and infighting, the TTP under the leadership of Noor Wali Mehsud underwent reorganization and reunification. Mehsud has essentially steered the TTP in a new direction, sparing civilians and ordering assaults only on security and law enforcement personnel, in an attempt to rehabilitate the group's image and distance them from the Islamic State militant group's extremism.[46]

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistan was unable to persuade the Afghan Taliban to crack down on the TTP.[47] The Afghan Taliban instead mediated talks between Pakistan and the TTP, leading to the release of dozens of TTP prisoners in Pakistan and a temporary ceasefire between the Pakistani government and the TTP.[48] [49] After the ceasefire expired on 10 December 2021, the TTP increased attacks on Pakistani security forces from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. The Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan's Khost and Kunar provinces on 16 April 2022 appeared to have been conducted in retaliation to the surge in terror attacks in Pakistan.[50]

History

Roots and development

The roots of the TTP as an organization began in 2002 when the Pakistani military conducted incursions into the tribal areas to originally combat foreign (Afghan, Arab and Central Asian) militants fleeing from the war in Afghanistan into the neighboring tribal areas of Pakistan.[51] [52] A 2004 article by the BBC explains:

The military offensive had been part of the overall war against al-Qaeda. ... Since the start of the operation, the [Pakistani] military authorities have firmly established that a large number of Uzbek, Chechen and Arab militants were in the area. ... It was in July 2002 that Pakistani troops, for the first time in 55 years, entered the Tirah Valley (Orakzai Agency) in Khyber tribal agency. Soon they were in Shawal valley of North Waziristan, and later in South Waziristan. ... This was made possible after long negotiations with various tribes, who reluctantly agreed to allow the military's presence on the assurance that it would bring in funds and development work. But once the military action started in South Waziristan a number of Waziri sub-tribes took it as an attempt to subjugate them. Attempts to persuade them into handing over the foreign militants failed, and with an apparently mishandling by the authorities, the security campaign against suspected al-Qaeda militants turned into an undeclared war between the Pakistani military and the rebel tribesmen.[52]

Many of the TTP's leaders are veterans of the fighting in Afghanistan and have supported the fight against the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force by providing soldiers, training, and logistics.[41] In 2004 various tribal groups, as explained above, that would later form the TTP, effectively established their authority in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) by concurrently engaging in military attacks and negotiating with Islamabad. By this time, the militants had killed around 200 rival tribal elders in the region to consolidate control.[12] Several Pakistani analysts also cite the inception of U.S. missile strikes in the FATA as a catalyzing factor in the rise of tribal militancy in the area. More specifically they single out an October 2006 strike on a madrassah in Bajaur that was run by the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi as a turning point.

In December 2007, the existence of the TTP was officially announced under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud.[12] It was formed in response to Pakistan military operation against Al-Qaeda militants in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in 2007.[53]

On 25 August 2008, Pakistan banned the group, froze its bank accounts and assets, and barred it from media appearances. The government also announced that bounties would be placed on prominent leaders of the TTP.[54]

In late December 2008 and early January 2009, Mullah Omar sent a delegation, led by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mullah Abdullah Zakir, to persuade leading members of the TTP to put aside differences and aid the Afghan Taliban in combating the American presence in Afghanistan.[41] Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, and Maulavi Nazir agreed in February and formed the Shura Ittehadul Mujahideen (SIM), also transliterated as Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen and translated into English as the Council of United Mujahedeen.[41] [55] [56] In a written statement circulated in a one-page Urdu-language pamphlet, the three affirmed that they would put aside differences to fight American-led forces and reasserted their allegiance to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden.[41] [55] However, the SIM did not last very long and collapsed shortly after its announcement.[57] [58]

Threats beyond Pakistan border

Qari Mehsud indicated in a video recorded in April 2010 the TTP would make cities in the United States a "main target" in response to U.S. drone attacks on TTP leaders.[59] The TTP claimed responsibility for the December 2009 suicide attack on CIA facilities in Camp Chapman in Afghanistan, as well as the attempted bombing in Times Square in May 2010.[60] [61]

In July 2012, the TTP threatened to attack Myanmar in the wake of sectarian violence against Rohingya Muslims in the Arakan state. TTP spokesman Ehsanullah demanded the Pakistani government sever relations with Myanmar and close the Burmese embassy in Islamabad, and warned of attacks against Burmese interests if no action was taken. While the TTP has been conducting an insurgency in Pakistan, its ability to expand operations to other countries has been questioned. This was a rare occasion in which it warned of violence in another country.[62] [63]

Leadership crisis

In August 2009, a missile strike from a suspected U.S. drone killed Baitullah Mehsud. The TTP soon held a shura to appoint his successor.[64] Government sources reported that fighting broke out during the shura between Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman. While Pakistani news channels reported that Hakimullah had been killed in the shooting, Interior Minister Rehman Malik could not confirm his death.[65] On 18 August, Pakistani security officials announced the capture of Maulvi Omar, chief spokesperson of the TTP. Omar, who had denied the death of Baitullah, retracted his previous statements and confirmed the leader's death in the missile strike. He also acknowledged turmoil among TTP leadership following the killing.[66]

After Omar's capture, Maulana Faqir Mohammed announced to the BBC that he would assume temporary leadership of the TTP and that Muslim Khan would serve as the organization's primary spokesperson. He also maintained that Baitullah had not been killed, but rather was in bad health. Faqir further elaborated that decisions over leadership of the umbrella group would only be made in consultation and consensus with a variety of different TTP leaders. "The congregation of TTP leaders has 32 members and no important decision can be taken without their consultation," he told the BBC.[67] [68] He reported to the AFP that both Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman had approved his appointment as temporary leader of the militant group.[69] Neither militant had publicly confirmed Faqir's statement, and analysts cited by Dawn News believed the assumption of leadership actually indicated a power struggle.[70]

Two days later Faqir Mohammed retracted his claims of temporary leadership and said that Hakimullah Mehsud had been selected leader of the TTP.[13] Faqir declared that the 42-member shura had also decided that Azam Tariq would serve as the TTP's primary spokesperson, rather than Muslim Khan.

Under the leadership of Hakimullah, the TTP intensified its suicide campaign against the Pakistani state and against civilian (particularly Shia, Qadiyani and Sufi) targets.

Designation as a terrorist organization

On 1 September 2010, the United States designated the TTP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and identified Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali ur-Rehman as specially designated global terrorists. The designation of the TTP as an FTO makes it a crime to provide support or to do business with the group and also allows the U.S. to freeze its assets. The US State Department also issued a $5 million reward for information on the two individuals' locations.[71] [72]

In January 2011, the British government moved to classify the TTP as a banned terrorist organization under its Terrorism Act 2000.[73]

In July 2011, the Canadian government also added the TTP to its list of banned terrorist organizations.[74]

Internal splits

In February 2014, a group of TTP terrorists under the lead of Maulana Umar Qasmi broke away from the organization to form the Ahrar-ul-Hind, in protest against the TTP's negotiations with the Pakistan government.[75]

In May 2014 the Mehsud faction of the TTP defected from the main group to form a breakaway unit called Tehreek-e-Taliban South Waziristan led by Khalid Mehsud. The breakaway group was unhappy with the various activities of the TTP, saying in a statement "We consider kidnapping for ransom, extortion, damage to public facilities and bombings to be un-Islamic. TTP Mehsud group believes in stopping the oppressor from cruelty, and supporting the oppressed."[76] The Mehsuds were widely seen as the most important group in the TTP and their loss was regarded as a major blow.[77] In February 2017, the TTP announced that the Mehsud faction had rejoined the group, following the "defection of the rogue elements to the rival parties".[78]

In August 2014, hardline elements of the TTP from four of the seven tribal districts formed a separate group called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, led by the Mohmand Agency commander Omar Khalid Khorosani,[79] after disagreeing with Fazlullah's order to fight the Pakistani Army's Operation Zarb-e-Azb offensive in the Tribal Areas.[80] However, in March 2015, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar's spokesman announced that they were rejoining the TTP.[81] Some Uzbek and Arab fighters previously working with the TTP reportedly began leaving Pakistan to go to Iraq to fight alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In the same month, Asmatullah Muawiya, the commander of the Punjabi Taliban, announced that his faction was ending their armed struggle against the Pakistani state.[82]

In October 2014, the TTP's spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, and the group's commanders in Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber tribal regions and Peshawar and Hangu Districts defected from the TTP and pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS).[83]

Organizational structure

Overview

The TTP differs in structure to the Afghan Taliban in that it lacks a central command and is a much looser coalition of various militant groups, united by hostility towards the central government in Islamabad.[8] [9] [10] Several analysts describe the TTP's structure as a loose network of dispersed constituent groups that vary in size and in levels of coordination. The various factions of the TTP tend to be limited to their local areas of influence and often lack the ability to expand their operations beyond that territory.

In its original form, the TTP had Baitullah Mehsud as its amir. He was followed in the leadership hierarchy by Hafiz Gul Bahadur as naib amir, or deputy. Faqir Mohammed was the third most influential leader.[12] The group contained members from all of FATA's seven tribal agencies as well as several districts of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), including Swat, Bannu, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohistan, Buner, and Malakand.[12] Some 2008 estimates placed the total number of operatives at 30–35,000, although it is difficult to judge the reliability of such estimates.[51]

In the aftermath of Baitullah Mehsud's death, the organization experienced turmoil among its leading militants. By the end of August 2009, however, leading members in the TTP had confirmed Hakimullah Mehsud as its second amir. Government and some TTP sources told the media that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in January 2010 by injuries sustained during a U.S. drone attack. Unconfirmed reports from Orakzai Agency stated, after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud, Malik Noor Jamal, alias Maulana Toofan, had assumed leadership of the TTP until the group determined how to proceed.[84] [85]

Reuters, citing a report from The Express Tribune, indicated in July 2011 that Hakimullah Mehsud's grip on the TTP leadership was weakening after the defection of Fazal Saeed Haqqani, the TTP leader in the Kurram region, from the umbrella militant group. Haqqani cited disagreements over attacks on civilians as reason for the split. The paper quoted an associate of Mehsud's as saying that "it looks as though he is just a figurehead now... He can hardly communicate with his commanders in other parts of the tribal areas ... he is in total isolation. Only a few people within the TTP know where he is."[86] A December 2011 report published in The Express Tribune further described the network as "crumbling" with "funds dwindling and infighting intensifying." According to various TTP operatives, the difficulties stemmed from differences of opinion within TTP leadership on pursuing peace talks with Islamabad.[87] In December 2012 senior Pakistan military officials told Reuters that Hakimullah Mehsud had lost control of the group and that Wali-ur-Rehman was expected to be formally announced as the head of the TTP.[88] However a video released later in the month showed Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman seated next to each other, with Mehsud calling reports of a split between the two as propaganda.[89] Mehsud and Rahman were later killed in separate airstrikes in 2013.[90] [91]

In February 2020, the TTP reported the deaths of four TTP senior leaders within a one-week period.[92] All of these four leaders, among them former TTP deputy leader Sheikh Khalid Haqqani and Hakimullah Mehsud group leader Sheharyar Mehsud,[93] [94] were killed within a month of each other as well.

Current leaders

Media

The TTP's "media arm" is "Umar Media".[100] Umar Media provides a "behind the scenes" look at Taliban attacks. Video clips are made in Pashto with Urdu subtitles.[101] [102] Umar Media also reportedly operated a Facebook page which had been created in September 2012 and had a few "likes" and a "handful of messages written in English". According to then TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, the page was being "temporarily" used before the TTP would plan to launch its own website. SITE Intelligence Group described the Facebook page as a "recruitment center" looking for people to edit the TTP's quarterly magazine and videos.[103] The page was soon removed by Facebook and the account suspended.[104]

Administrative Structure

Since February 2022, inspired by the Afghan Taliban, TTP created an administrative structure and named Pakistani divisions/districts as Wilayats, and appointed governors for them.[105]

As of February 2024, the total number of TTP shadow provinces is 13, 7 of which are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2 each in Balochistan and Punjab, and 1 each in Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh.

WilayatUrdu nameTerritorial BoundariesEstablished
Wilayat Bannu Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ بنوں Bannu Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinceFebruary 2022
Wilayat Dera Ismail Khan Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان Dera Ismail Khan Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinceFebruary 2022
Wilayat Gilgit-BaltistanUrdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ گلگت بلتستانGilgit-Baltistan province February 2022
Wilayat Hazara Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ ہزارہ Hazara Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinceFebruary 2022
Wilayat Karachi Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ کراچی Karachi Division, Sindh province January 2024
Wilayat Kohat Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ کوہاٹ Kohat Division (excluding Dara Adam Khel Tehsil), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province February 2022
Wilayat Malakand Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ ملاکنڈ Malakand Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province February 2022
Wilayat Mardan Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ مردان Mardan Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province February 2022
Wilayat North Punjab[106] Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ شمالی پنجابFaisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal and Sargodha Divisions, Punjab province June 2023
Wilayat Peshawar Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ پشاور Peshawar Division, and Dara Adam Khel Tehsil, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province January 2022
Wilayat Qalat and Makran Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ قلات ومکران Kalat and Makran Divisions, Balochistan provinceJune 2023
Wilayat South Punjab Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ جنوبی پنجاب Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali, and Multan Divisions, Punjab province June 2023
Wilayat Zhob Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ ژوب Zhob Division, Balochistan province February 2022
Former WilayatUrdu nameTerritorial BoundariesEstablished/Disestablished
Wilayat Bajaur Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ باجوڑ Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province January 2022 – February 2022 (merged into Wilayat Malakand)
Wilayat Khyber and Darra Adam Khel Urdu: {{Nastaliq|ولایتِ خیبر و درہ آدم خیل Khyber District and Dara Adam Khel Tehsil, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province January 2022 – February 2022 (merged into Wilayat Peshawar)

Relationship with other militant groups

In a May 2010 interview, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus described the TTP's relationship with other militant groups as difficult to decipher: "There is clearly a symbiotic relationship between all of these different organizations: al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, TNSM [Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi]. And it's very difficult to parse and to try to distinguish between them. They support each other, they coordinate with each other, sometimes they compete with each other, [and] sometimes they even fight each other. But at the end of the day, there is quite a relationship between them."[44]

Director of National Intelligence and United States Navy Admiral, Dennis C. Blair, told U.S. senators that the Pakistani state and army meanwhile draw clear distinctions among different militant groups.[107] While links exist between the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, the two groups are distinct enough for the Pakistani military to be able to view them very differently. American officials said that the S Wing of the Pakistani ISI provided direct support to three major groups carrying out attacks in Afghanistan: the Afghan Taliban based in Quetta, Pakistan, commanded by Mullah Muhammad Omar; the militant network run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; and a different group run by the guerrilla leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, all considered a strategic asset by Pakistan in contrast to the TTP run by Hakimullah Mehsud, which has engaged the Pakistani army in combat.

Afghan Taliban

See main article: Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban share the same ideology and a dominant Pashtun ethnicity, but they are distinct movements, differing in their histories, structures and goals. The two groups frequently don't get along with each other. An Afghan Taliban spokesman told The New York Times: "We don't like to be involved with them, as we have rejected all affiliation with Pakistani Taliban fighters ... We have sympathy for them as Muslims, but beside that, there is nothing else between us." Peshawar-based security analyst Brigadier (retd) Muhamaad Saad believes the Taliban are not a monolithic entity. "They can be divided into three broad categories: [Afghan] Kandahari Taliban, led by Mullah Omar; [Afghan] Paktia Taliban, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani; and [Pakistani] Salfi Taliban [TTP]," he said. "It's the Salfi Taliban who pose a real threat to Pakistan. They may not be obeying the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar."[108] Some regional experts state that the common name "Taliban" may be more misleading than illuminating. Gilles Dorronsoro of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace believes that "[t]he fact that they have the same name causes all kinds of confusion." As the Pakistani Army began offensives against the Pakistani Taliban, many unfamiliar with the region mistakenly thought that the assault was against the Afghan Taliban of Mullah Omar.

The TTP has almost exclusively targeted elements of the Pakistani state. The Afghan Taliban however have historically relied on support from the Pakistani army in their campaign to control Afghanistan.[109] Regular Pakistani army troops fought alongside the Afghan Taliban in the War in Afghanistan (1996–2001).[110] Major leaders of the Afghan Taliban including Mullah Omar, Jalaluddin Haqqani and Siraj Haqqani are believed to have enjoyed safe haven in Pakistan. In 2006, Jalaluddin Haqqani was called a 'Pakistani asset' by a senior official of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.[111] Pakistan regards the Haqqanis as an important force for protecting its interests in Afghanistan and therefore has been unwilling to move against them.

In 2007, Pakistani militants loyal to Baitullah Mehsud created the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and killed around 200 rival Pakistani leaders. They officially defined goals to establish their rule over Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas subsequently engaging the Pakistani army in heavy combat operations. Intelligence analysts believe that these TTP's attacks on the Pakistani government, police and army strained relations between the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar asked the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in late 2008 and early 2009 to stop attacks inside Pakistan.

In February 2009, the three dominant Pakistani Taliban leaders agreed to put aside their differences to help counter a planned increase in American troops in Afghanistan and reaffirmed their allegiance to Mullah Omar (and to Osama bin Laden). The agreement among the TTP leaders was short-lived, however, and instead of fighting alongside the Afghan Taliban the rival Pakistani factions soon engaged in combat with each other.

Many Afghan Taliban officials resent the TTP's violent campaign against Pakistan. Afghan Talibans and TTP have also conducted attacks against each other. On 10 October 2013, heavily armed Afghan Talibans attacked a TTP base in Kunar province of Afghanistan. The attack resulted in the death of three TTP commanders. However, TTP denied any losses.[112] Again on 25 June 2016, Afghan Talibans and TTP clashed with each other in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. Afghan defense ministry claims that eight TTP militants and six Afghan Talibans were killed in the clash.[113] Moreover, Some Sources also claim that TTP was behind the death of Nasiruddin Haqqani because TTP believed that Haqqani Network was behind the death of Hakimullah Mehsud as they disclosed whereabouts of Hakimullah Mehsud to US military in Afghanistan.[114] [115]

Since 2007, the TTP had been responsible for some of the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, and had targeted civilians and security forces in wave after wave of suicide bombings, improvised explosive device (IED) blasts, targeted killings and other forms of attacks. Following the TTP's Peshawar school massacre, the leaders of the Afghan Taliban condemned the TTP's actions on the school, saying it was "Un-Islamic".[116]

However, despite the atrocities of the TTP, Pakistan was unable to persuade the Afghan Taliban to crack down on the TTP when the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021.[47] Instead, the Afghan Taliban mediated talks between Pakistan and the TTP that led to the release of dozens of TTP prisoners in Pakistan. In November 2021, the Afghan Taliban helped facilitate a one-month ceasefire between the government of prime minister Imran Khan and the TTP. The ceasefire was not renewed when it expired, however, and the TTP emir, Noor Wali Mehsud, asked his fighters to resume their attacks in Pakistan from 10 December 2021.[117] [49]

Cross-border controversy

In July 2011, after Pakistani missile attacks against Afghan provinces, Pakistani media reports alleged that senior Pakistani Taliban leaders were operating from Afghanistan to launch attacks against Pakistani border posts. According to the reports, Qari Zia-ur-Rahman hosted Faqir Muhammad in Kunar province while Sheikh Dost Muhammad, a local Afghan Taliban leader, hosted Maulana Fazlullah in Nuristan province. Faqir Muhammad, who claimed responsibility for a 4 July 2011 attack on a paramilitary checkpoint and for similar attacks in June 2011 on several border villages in Bajaur, stated during a radio broadcast, "Our fighters carried out these two attacks from Afghanistan, and we will launch more such attacks inside Afghanistan and in Pakistan." Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid strongly rejected the reports and denied the possibility of Pakistani Taliban setting up bases in Afghan Taliban-controlled areas.[118] [119] Tameem Nuristani, Governor of Afghanistan's Nuristan Province, told The Express Tribune that while the "Afghan Taliban have never carried out cross-border attacks in Pakistan," TTP militants may have "safe-havens" in Kunar and Nuristan in "areas where the government's writ does not exist".

In June 2012 a spokesman from the TTP's Malakand division revealed to The Express Tribune that TTP militants "regularly move across the porous border" to stage attacks against Pakistan but had only been in Afghanistan for a few months previously, contrary to Pakistani claims that the TTP had long used Afghan territory as a staging ground.[120]

Both governments blame the other for harboring Taliban militants along the shared border.[121] In 2009 Pakistan launched offensives to force the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan from its territory in South Waziristan.[122] Some analysts say the fighting pushed TTP militants to the Nuristan and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan, where they have regrouped to threaten Pakistani border regions.[123] The Pakistani military claims "scanty presence" of NATO and Afghan forces along the border has enabled militants to use these areas as safe havens and launch repeated attacks inside Pakistan. Afghan officials state that the withdrawal of US forces out of parts of Kunar province beginning in 2010 created a power vacuum that militants filled.[124] They point to the fact that the Afghan state in some areas has little control due to its war against the Afghan Taliban which are supported by Pakistan according to many international and Afghan institutions, analysts and officials.[125] Pakistan vehemently denies this claim,[126] although some Afghan Taliban commanders stated that their training was indeed overseen by "ISI officers in a camp in Pakistan" and that they were being armed by Pakistan to fight the Afghan state and international troops in Afghanistan.[127] [128]

Al-Qaeda

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has close ties to Al Qaeda, sharing money and bomb experts and makers. John Brennan, President Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, said: "It's a group that is closely allied with al-Qaeda. They train together, they plan together, they plot together. They are almost indistinguishable."[129] Ambassador-at-large Daniel Benjamin stated, "The T.T.P. and Al Qaeda have a symbiotic relationship: T.T.P. draws ideological guidance from Al Qaeda, while Al Qaeda relies on the T.T.P. for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border... This mutual cooperation gives T.T.P. access to both Al Qaeda's global terrorist network and the operational experience of its members. Given the proximity of the two groups and the nature of their relationship, T.T.P. is a force multiplier for Al Qaeda."[72] Ayesha Siddiqa of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars describes the TTP as "a franchise of al Qaeda" and attributes strong ties to al-Qaeda's acquisition of "a more local character over the years."[9] Since the days of the Soviet era, some al-Qaeda operatives have established themselves in Pashtun areas and enmeshed themselves in the local culture.[10]

In 2008 Baitullah Mehsud met with Ayman al-Zawahiri in South Waziristan. Prior to this meeting the Pakistani Taliban answered to the Afghan Taliban and pro-Pakistan militant commanders. At the time Pakistani authorities believed that Mehsud was in fact an al-Qaeda operative.[130] In February 2009 Baitullah Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulavi Nazir released a statement in which they reaffirmed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden.[41] [55]

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

According to United Nation report, ISIS core leadership sends funds to TTP in Afghanistan to "outsource" attacks due to its depleted manpower. The report also claims that ISIS would cease to exist in Afghanistan without these funds.[131]

According to Borhan Osman, a senior analyst at International Crisis Group (ICG), the Islamic State (IS) fighters who started the ISIS-K branch of ISIS were TTP militants who had long settled in Afghanistan. He claims that many members of the TTP fled Pakistan and went to seek refuge in Afghanistan as a result of military operations conducted by Pakistan security forces. In Afghanistan, National Directorate of Security (NDS) tried to persuade them to fight against Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban. Initially, only few of them fought against Pakistan and Afghan Talibans. However, after that TTP members in Afghanistan changed their allegiance to ISIS-K. Initially, because of their good relations with Afghan armed forces, the locals in Afghanistan thought that they were pro-Afghan government forces based. They also claimed that they were there to fight Afghan Talibans and Pakistan. However, after series of events, ISIS-K also turned hostile towards to Afghan government and locals.

Ghazi Abdul Rashid Shaheed Brigade

The Ghazi Abdul Rashid Shaheed Brigade, whose name is commonly shortened to Ghazi Brigade or Ghazi Force, emerged as a jihadi organization after the Lal Masjid Operation of 2007. In 2009 the Ghazi Brigade worked closely with the TTP during military operations in the Swat Valley, and the two groups jointly planned attacks on western targets in Islamabad.[132] [133]

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

The TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have a long history of collaboration. At one point prior to his appointment as TTP chief, Baitullah Mehsud lived with Tohir Yo'ldosh, the IMU's former leader, who became an ideological inspiration and offered the services of his 2,500 fighters to Mehsud.[134] In April 2009 Muslim Khan listed the IMU among the TTP's allies in an interview with AP.[135] The IMU posted a video online in September 2010 that featured footage of Yo'ldosh's successor, Abu Usman Adil, meeting with Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-Ur-Rahman Mehsud.[136] On 8 June 2014, the TTP accepted responsibility for conducting the Jinnah International Airport attack. The militants who participated in the attack were Uzbeks belonging to the IMU, and the TTP described the attack as a joint operation between TTP and IMU.

Punjabi Taliban

The Punjabi Taliban reportedly developed strong connections with the TTP, the Afghan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi and various other groups based in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).[137] [138] The TTP and the Punjabi Taliban both claimed the 2009 Lahore bombing shortly after the attack.[139] On 24 August 2013, a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed that the head of the Punjabi Taliban faction, Asmatullah Muawiya, had been stripped of his leadership for welcoming the Pakistani government's peace talks offer. Muawiya responded by saying that the Taliban central Shura (council) did not have the capacity to remove him because the Punjabi Taliban is a separate group. He added that his group has its own decision-making body to decide leadership and other matters.[140] After a US drone strike in Pakistan near Miranshah which killed 2 Punjabi Taliban members and interrupted a period of time with no drone strikes in which the Pakistani government held talks with the TTP and Punjabi Taliban, Muawiya announced that the Punjabi Taliban was ending their activities within Pakistan to focus on American soldiers in Afghanistan on 13 September 2014.[141] [142]

Other groups

US officials admitted to The New York Times that they found it increasingly difficult to separate the operations of the various Pakistani militant groups active in the tribal areas of Pakistan.[60] Individuals and groups that are believed to have a supportive relationship with the TTP include:

Allegations of foreign support/linkages

The Pakistani military and civilian leadership have repeatedly alleged that the Indian intelligence agency RAW has been funding and training TTP members using a network of Indian consulates in Afghanistan along the Pakistani border.[146] [147] [148] The allegations claim that when the TTP emerged, Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies were quick to seize the opportunity to infiltrate and utilize some of its elements, particularly Baitullah Mehsud's kin, against the Pakistani government and its armed forces. Pakistan claims that NDS (Afghanistan's intelligence agency) officials have openly admitted to their involvement with Tehreek-e-Taliban.[149]

Afghanistan has always been safe 'sanctuary' for Tehreek-e-Taliban. Mullah Fazlullah and his followers have been living in Afghanistan since 2009. In 2012, United States military and intelligence officials admitted that Mullah Fazlullah and his followers are living in Kunar and Nuristan province of Afghanistan. However, the U.S. military claimed that they are not targeting Mullah Fazlullah because he is not their priority as he is not affiliated with Al-Qaeda or with the insurgents who target U.S. or Afghan interest. Moreover, the ISAF advisers believe that 'Afghan Army is allowing them to operate in Afghanistan'.[150] Later on in 2017, Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah admitted that Tehreek-e-Taliban have a foothold in Afghanistan. However, he claimed that Afghan Government is not supporting them.[151] Head of National Directorate of security (NDS), Asadullah Khalid posted a tweet on Twitter where he claimed that Tehreek-e-Taliban attack on Pakistan air force Badaber Camp was tit for tat. His claim highlights NDS support to Tehreek-e-Taliban.[152] In 2013, United States military captured senior Tehreek-e-Taliban leader, Latif Mehsud, from an Afghan army and intelligence convoy. The Afghan convoy was guarding Latif Mehsud and taking him to National Directorate of Security (NDS) headquarters. They were intercepted by U.S. military in Logar Province of Afghanistan.[153] [154]

Senior Afghan analyst Borhan Osman claims that the Pakistan military offensive against the Tehrik-i-Taliban in Federally Administered Tribal Areas forced many members of the TTP to flee Pakistan and seek shelter in Afghanistan. Tehrik-i-Talibans were welcomed in Afghanistan and were treated as 'guests' by the Afghan Government and by the local people. Apart from Tehrik-i-Talibans, many other militants groups like Lashkar-e-Islam and other factions of Tehrik-i-Talibans were allowed to live in Afghanistan. Tribal elders and locals from Achin, Nazin and Kot testify that the militants were allowed free movement in the province and treatment in Government run hospitals. When moving outside their hub, they would go unarmed. National Directorate of Security (NDS) wanted them to fight against the Pakistani government and the Afghan Talibans. Initially, only few of them fought against Pakistan and Afghan Talibans. However, that changed after TTP members in Afghanistan changed their allegiance to ISIS-K. Once they pledged allegiance to ISIS-K, they claimed that they were there to fight Afghan Taliban and Pakistan. Because of their Anti-Afghan Taliban and Anti-Pakistan attitude, many locals believed that ISIS-K were a pro-government forces.[155]

In December 2014, after the Peshawar school massacre in which 132 children were killed, the Pakistani authorities again alleged that there was significant proof of Indian support of TTP to destabilize Pakistan and to counter Pakistan's Afghan policy.[156] The Pakistan Army's official spokesman, Major General Asim Bajwa, said in the aftermath of the attack that, "India is funding Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan," adding that "...a banned outfit cannot function on such a big scale unless foreign powers are funding it."[156] In addition to the Indian RAW intelligence agency, the Pakistanis claim that Afghan intelligence agencies are also involved in the support of TTP.[157] Notably, major TTP leader Latif Mehsud was caught by U.S. troops in Afghanistan while he was in a convoy escorted by Afghan Intelligence. American forces captured the TTP leader and handed him over to Pakistani authorities. This angered the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, since Mehsud had been recruited for peace talks according to Afghan authorities.[158]

In 2016, Latif Mehsud gave a public video confession during which he claimed that Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies were responsible for supporting the TTP and other militant groups against Pakistan.[159]

The Sindh Home Ministry in November 2015, wrote a letter to the Rangers and Police claiming Taliban had funded terrorist activities in Karachi. According to the letter, RAW funded around Rs 20 million for terrorist activities in Karachi. "The funding has been provided to banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat," the letter claimed.[160]

Claimed and alleged attacks

See main article: List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001.

Involvement in the Syrian Civil War

See main article: Foreign rebel fighters in the Syrian Civil War. TTP have limited aims and focused objectives.[252] TTP have set up camps and sent hundreds of fighters to Syria to fight alongside rebels opposed to Bashar al-Assad in an effort to strengthen ties with al Qaeda.[253] [254] [255]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

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  2. Book: Maley, William. Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban. 2001. C Hurst & Co. 978-1-85065-360-8. 14.
  3. Web site: Taliban - Oxford Islamic Studies Online. 11 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190531114931/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0895. 31 May 2019. dead.
  4. Web site: Understanding taliban through the prism of Pashtunwali code . CF2R . 30 November 2013 . 18 August 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140810020924/http://www.cf2r.org/fr/tribune-libre/understanding-taliban-through-the-prism-of-pashtunwali-code.php . 10 August 2014 .
  5. Web site: Did you know that there are two different Taliban groups?. 1 April 2013. www.digitaljournal.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130511201745/https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/347009. 11 May 2013.
  6. Web site: Puri . Luv . The Past and Future of Deobandi Islam . Combating Terrorism Center . 8 August 2024 . 3 November 2009.
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  16. Multiple Sources:
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