NEW YORK: A new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report has highlighted the grave threat to Pakistan’s security posed by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying there is an increased collaboration between Afghan Taliban and banned TTP in the cross-border terrorist attacks mainly against Pakistani military posts.
“With Taliban consent, and at times support, banned TTP has intensified terrorist attacks inside Pakistan mainly targeting defense installations,” said the report from the Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIL, Al-Qaeda and associate groups, pointing out that Pakistan suffered over 800 terrorist attacks in the last several months.
“Banned TTP camps with Al-Qaeda and Taliban involvement focus on training local Afghan fighters and TTP operatives,” it added, noting that banned TTP has 6,000 and 6,500 fighters who continue to use NATO arms obtained in Afghanistan, while also highlighting the role of night vision capability. “Al-Qaeda is funding purchases of arms and suicide vests for banned TTP,” the report maintained.
“The terrorist threat originating from Afghanistan is causing heightened concern in many UN member nations,” the report said.
Islamabad has consistently drawn the attention of the world to the security threat it faces from the banned TTP terrorists who it says also have foreign support.
The report added, “There is heightened concern among member nations regarding the terrorist threat emanating regionally from Afghanistan from ISIL-Khorassan and banned TTP in particular; new inward travel to Afghanistan of some Al-Qaeda personnel and training, recruitment and reorganization activities.’
The report also cites several UN member nations as saying that the Al-Qaeda figure Abu Ikhlas-al Masri was actively collaborating with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in providing suicide bomber training to banned TTP in Kunar Province, Afghanistan with two states holding banned TTP responsible for the March 26 attack against Chinese citizens working on a hydropower dam project near Besham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
“There is increased support and collaboration between the Taliban and banned TTP, sharing manpower and training camps in Afghanistan and also conducting more lethal terrorist attacks under the banner of Tehrik-e Jihad Pakistan (TJP). Therefore, banned TTP could transform into an umbrella organization for other terrorist organizations,” the report added.
Da’esh, it said, remains the most serious threat, projecting terror beyond Afghanistan, while Al-Qaeda exercises strategic patience, prioritizing its ties with the Taliban.
“Some Member nations estimate that Da’esh has increased from 4,000 to 6,000 fighters, despite the loss of territory and attrition among leadership, while others assess its strength remaining at between 2,000 and 3,500 fighters,” the report added, saying it was difficult to estimate an accurate figure.
“ISIL-K has relocated some personnel away from its core region of Kunar and Nangarhar, with factions migrating to Herat, Badakhshan, and Nimroz Provinces, adopting an asymmetric warfare strategy better suited to local circumstances and to resist Taliban pressure,” it added, saying, “The group also aspires to control Afghan territory from which to infiltrate neighbouring nations, expanding the terrorist threat to Central Asia, Russia and Iran.”
