KARACHI
\nThe proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is now the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, enjoying operational and logistical support from both the Afghan Taliban and factions of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, according to a United Nations monitoring report.
\n\u201cThe Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and the debt owed to TTP significant,\u201d states the 15th report of the ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda\/Taliban Monitoring Team, submitted to the UN Security Council.
\nEstimating its strength at around 6,000-6,500 fighters, the report notes that TTP is now the largest among the two dozen or so such groups that enjoy freedom to manoeuvre, under the oversight of the Taliban regime.
\nThis lends credence to Islamabad\u2019s stance that Kabul is unwilling to act against Pakistan-facing terrorist groups, something officials such as Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi have reiterated time and again.
\nThe report notes that TTP \u201ccontinues to operate at significant scale in Afghanistan and to conduct terrorist operations into Pakistan from there, often utilising Afghans\u201d.
\n\u201cTTP has intensified attacks against Pakistan, significantly increasing from 573 in 2021 to 715 in 2022 and 1,210 in 2023, with the trend continuing into 2024,\u201d the report, updated until May 28, states.
\nThis also lines up with Islamabad\u2019s cla\u00adi\u00adms of the involvement of Afghan nationals in a number of recent terrorist attacks, such as the Bisham bombing, which claimed the lives of five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver. The report also mentions this particular incident.
\nIt also backs Pakistan\u2019s worry that Nato-calibre weapons, especially night vision capability, have been provided to TTP since the Taliban takeover, adding lethality to terrorist attacks against Pakistani border posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI The proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is now the largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, enjoying operational and logistical support from both the Afghan Taliban and factions of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, according to a United Nations monitoring report. \u201cThe Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-418030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n