The resurgence of Taliban in Afghanistan is proving fatal for Pakistan, as the militant affiliate of Afghan Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is gaining leverage not only in the tribal zones of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan but also in other places, Afghan Diaspora Network reported.
The TTP is, along with its foot soldiers, finding safe havens in Afghanistan without any constraints, according to the Afghan Diaspora Network.
TTP militants on February 17, stormed the Karachi Police Chief’s office, resulting in hours-long combat between militants and various law enforcement agencies. The attack left four dead and 18 injured.
All three terrorists belonging to the TTP were killed. Such an audacious attack shows the level of freedom exercised by this particular terror organisation within Pakistan.
The TTP has warned of more attacks on Pakistan’s law enforcement officers. The TTP in a statement said: “The policemen should stay away from our war with the slave army, otherwise the attacks on the safe havens of the top police officers will continue.” It also mentioned, “This attack is a message to all the enemies of Islam and all the security agencies of Pakistan that the TTP will continue their fight for the implementation of Sharia in the country.”
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, TTP militants have been on a rampage across Pakistan, attacking various police personnel, police stations, check posts etc.
According to Afghan Diaspora Network, after playing ‘hide and seek’ for more than a year, TTP finally ended the ceasefire with the Pakistani establishment on November 28, 2022. Crucially, even before the cease-fire ended, hundreds of TTP militants had returned to their former strongholds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which in itself is a bad omen.
The Pakistan Military Monitor (PMM) recently reported that, frustrated with non-cooperation from Afghanistan’s rulers in fighting the rampaging Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pakistan plans to attack the latter’s hideouts across the border, however, the move spells serious border trouble and failure of its Afghanistan policy.
Any confrontation on the Af-Pak border that has already witnessed skirmishes would surely mean bigger tensions and frequent closure of access to a landlocked Afghanistan.
For Pakistan, it means more Afghan refugees, more displacement of its own people, and greater militancy and violence. And for the world, a renewed conflict zone reported PMM.
Pakistan is planning to attack TTP’s hideouts across the border that it hosted for two decades and facilitated their regaining of Kabul.
However, the Taliban is unwilling to evict their ideological brothers and want to use them as leverage against Islamabad and use it as a bargain to end global isolation, reported PMM.