https://ift.tt/zlKVfUd The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) established a new base in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in mid-2023, revealed a new report by a UN monitory team, which sheds light on close ties between not only TTP and the Afghan Taliban but also between the anti-Pakistani groups and al-Qaeda. The 33rd report compiled by the UN monitoring team was submitted to the UN Security Council last week providing details about the presence of terrorist organisations in Afghanistan and their linkage with the Kabul regime. “A new TTP base was established in mid-2023 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, where 66 TTP individuals trained as suicide bombers,” read the 23-page report. It was important to highlight that the new base was established merely months after Pakistan allowed hundreds of TTP terrorists to return as part of the confidence-building measure. It was evident that the returning TTP terrorists, instead of laying down arms, regrouped and posed a greater threat to Pakistan’s security. The increased TTP attacks prompted authorities to withdraw from the peace efforts brokered by the Afghan Taliban. Read more: Pak-Afghan relations — DI Khan attack and TTP “(The) TTP was further strengthened and emboldened, increasing attacks with a broader degree of autonomy to manoeuvre,” the UN report said. “The Taliban are generally sympathetic to TTP aims,” it further said, corroborating evidence on the ground that TTP and Afghan Taliban are two sides of the same coin. Another revelation made in the report is the close nexus between the TTP and Al-Qaeda. “Besides supplying weapons and equipment, Taliban rank and file, Al-Qaida core and AQIS fighters assisted TTP forces in cross-border attacks,” the report noted. Despite the Taliban instructing TTP fighters not to participate in operations outside Afghanistan, many had done so with no apparent consequence, according to the report. Also read: TTP, TTA and new round of proxy wars 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. Also importantly, the UN report said a notable development was the increase of Afghan nationals in the TTP ranks. This endorsed Pakistan’s stance that an increasing number of Afghan nationals were involved in suicide attacks in the country. The report also noted that the relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaida remains close, and the latter maintains a holding pattern in Afghanistan under Taliban patronage. “Regional States assess that the presence of Al-Qaida senior figures in the country has not changed and that the group continues to pose a threat in the region, and potentially beyond.” Al-Qaida was reported to have established up to eight new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in Ghazni, Laghman, Parwan and Uruzgan provinces, with a new base to stockpile weaponry in the Panjshir Valley. Some camps might be temporary. Hakim al-Masri, based in Kunar province, is responsible for the training camps and conducting suicide bomber training for TTP. The UN report further said that Al-Qaida core and AQIS continue to provide training, ideological guidance and support to TTP. Read more: US extends support to Pakistan amid TTP threat In July 2023, Al-Qaida reportedly issued orders for all vehicles used by the group to be gifted to TTP, owing to fear of being targeted by the United States of America. With the consent of senior Al-Qaida leaders, AQIS selected approximately 15 commanders to assist TTP with attacks in Pakistan. In September, AQIS reportedly supplied armed fighters during the TTP attack in Chitral, Pakistan. TTP morale increased following international attention on the September attack. Aside from anti-Pakistan operations, TTP reportedly conducts assassinations of Taliban defecting to ISIL-K. It also said the short-term detention of 70 to 200 TTP members and the relocation of personnel northward away from the border areas by the Taliban were assessed as deflecting pressure from Pakistan to contain TTP. Similarly, the report revealed that a newly formed Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) is a front, providing TTP with plausible deniability, to alleviate the pressure from Pakistan on the Taliban. The TJP conducted several attacks in 2023, including one against Pakistani security forces in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on December 12, 2023. The report said that regional states expressed continuing concern for its collaboration with other terrorist groups, especially TTP, in recruitment, training, planning attacks and posing a regional threat. One member state reported that Al-Qaida core provides training and ideological guidance to ETIM/TIP. One member state, according to the report, assessed the strength of the Majeed Brigade (MB) at 60 to 80 fighters, with recruitment focusing on female suicide bombers. A couple of member states reported MB cooperation with TTP and ISIL-K in training, weapons acquisition, intelligence-sharing and joint operations, although several other member states sought additional information in this regard. The Majid Brigade claimed several attacks targeting Pakistan law enforcement agencies and Chinese personnel in Pakistan during the reporting period. Pakistan reacts to UN report At a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan had been raising concerns about the terrorist groups and entities threatening the country that found refuge in Afghanistan. “We are concerned that these groups and entities have a free hand to attack Pakistan, and to sponsor terrorist activities inside Pakistan,” she said. “And we urge Afghanistan to take immediate and effective action against these terrorist entities, hand over their leadership to Pakistan, and those individuals who have been involved in terrorist activities inside Pakistan. we have shared concrete evidence with regards to their involvement with Afghanistan authorities.”
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