PAKISTAN on Thursday reiterated its demand for Afghanistan to extradite the leaders of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a designated terrorist group, while underscoring the need for bringing to justice those responsible for terrorism and maintaining regional security. At the weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan government was “very concerned” that TTP is given a free hand to attack Pakistan, and to sponsor terrorist activities inside Pakistan.
The renewed call came in the backdrop of the thirty-third report submitted to the United Nations Security Council Committee by the militant Islamic State (IS) group and Al Qaeda/Taliban Monitoring Team, which showed that besides the patronage of Taliban administration, Afghanistan-based TTP enjoys the backing of Al Qaeda and also has links with East Turkestan Islamic Movement and Majeed Brigade. Besides active support that the terrorist group receives in Afghanistan, the report also revealed that the decision of the previous PTI Government to allow TTP elements to return (at the instance of the Taliban Government) was misused by the banned outfit to regroup and pose a greater threat to the security of Pakistan. The report divulged that the TTP established a new base in KP in mid-2023 where 66 individuals were trained as suicide bombers. However, despite this incriminating evidence, the Taliban Government is still insisting that the TTP was an internal issue of Pakistan and is unwilling to dismantle its formidable support base in Afghanistan. The report further revealed that some Taliban members also joined TTP, perceiving a religious obligation to provide support. Interlocutors reported that TTP members and their families receive regular aid packages from the Taliban. The report substantiates what Pakistan has all along been saying about involvement of the TTP and indirectly the Taliban Government in terrorist activities inside Pakistan and the need to break this nexus.
