𝐔𝐍 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐤-𝐞-𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩

 

A newly released UN report reveals that TTP, an amalgamation of terrorist cells is ‘the biggest terrorist group’ in Afghanistan and is spearheaded with increasing assistance from Afghanistan’s Taliban regime to stage terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

The sanctions monitoring team of the U.N. issued the assessment late on Wednesday as the TTP-led terrorism attacks on Pakistani security and civilian targets rose sharply within the past few weeks resulting in hundreds of fatalities.

‘TTP remains active at a large scale in Afghanistan and to stage terrorist attacks into Pakistan from there, using Afghans,’ the report continued. Of it, it was informed that the internationally recognised terrorist group and the Pakistani Taliban, is at operation in Afghanistan with a force of 6,000 to 6,500.

“Moreover, the Taliban themselves have failed or, more likely, refused to control the aggression of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan which increases attacks on Pakistan,” as the document read. “Taliban support to TTP also seems to have risen.”

Deadly violence has tested Islamabad’s fragile relations with the de facto Taliban government in Kabul, which denies the existence of any terrorist groups or that it allows Afghan soil to be used for threatening neighboring countries.

“The Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the relations are affectionate, and the amount of money owed to TTP Large,” the UNSC cable added.

TTP was established in the late 2007 in MEA of Pakistan and provide men and space to Afghan Taliban who stepped up guerrilla strikes against the U. S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in the following year.

The foreign troops left Afghanistan in August this year to pave way for the Taliban to overthrow the then-recognition government of Ashraf Ghani. S. -backed Afghan government seated in Kabul.

 Al-Qaida links

The U. N. report also stated that regional al-Qaida in Afghanistan who has long term association with the Taliban is supporting TTP in choreographing high profile act of terror within Pakistan.

The Taliban have not reacted to the fresh U. N. revelations as of the time of preparing this report, but they have downplayed previous similar reports as false narratives aimed at tarnishing their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The U. N. assessment quoted member states as observing that TTP together with local militants is trained in the al-Qaeda operated camp that has been established in several border provinces including Nangarhar, Kandahar, Kunar, and Nuristan. Afghan support for TTP also entails moving Afghan warriors for military complement or assault structures are contributed by Al-Qaeda.

A U. N. member state was cited in the report as stating a worry that, “greater interaction” with al-Qaida could turn TTP into an “over and above regional menace. ”

US weapons and TTP

Member states of the U.N. again emphasised that NATO ‘caliber weapons, particularly night vision capability, which have been supplied to TTP after the Taliban seized control enhance the TTP terrorist attacks’ impact against Pakistani border military posts.

Israb administrative and other authorities have also blamed the growing number of deaths on security forces on the enhanced sophisticated US weapons that the international forces have left behind and which have been seized by TTP.

Pakistani intelligence forces say that they got a handful of U. S. -made small arms such as M-16 and M-4 rifles after conducting counter-terrorism operations this year, the Department of Defence reacted in a Quarterly report which was published in late May responding to the allegations.

This has been dismissed by the militants, including the TTP; more than likely, they are employing a small percentage of US sourced weaponry and paraphernalia such as small arms and night vision goggles in the attacks in Pakistan, the U. S. report added. It added, however, that “the level of weaponry of U. S. origin that Pakistani sources claim is in the possession of anti-Pakistan militants is probably inflated. ”

Islamabad has been urging Kabul to curb TTP-led cross-border terrorism repeatedly, arrest the heads and the main suspect Mehsud and extradite them to Pakistan. Taliban’s response has been that TTP is internal security menace to Pakistan, not for Afghanistan to accuse.

The U. N. report also reveals that TTP has gradually increased the attacks against Pakistan from 573 in 2021 to 1203 in 2023 and in the starting of 2024. For the same reason, Pakistan officials also blamed the increase in the terror group’s graph on the ‘more freedom of manoeuvre’ the terrorist outfit has had in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control almost three years ago.

The biggest evidence of TTP operating from Afghanistan is from the UN report that suggest the Taliban’s spy agency, the General Directorate of Intelligence was managing three new guesthouses in Kabul for TTP chiefs and granting passes to TTP’s high ranking leaders to move around Kabul without being arrested or detained and arms licenses also.

The assessment pointed out that the Taliban fear that TTP may join IS Khorasan if they experience “too much pressure”, which engages in a series of acts of terrorism in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban’s security personnel and members of the Afghan Shiite community.