ISLAMABAD: A video circulating online appears to show a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist meeting Afghanistan’s Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani in Khost province, eastern Afghanistan.
In the footage, the man introduces himself as Zabihullah, from Kotkai in South Waziristan, Pakistan, and shows his affiliation with TTP factions associated with former militant leaders Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain.
“My name is Zabihullah, I am from Kotkai, South Waziristan, affiliated with the TTP’s Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain factions,” he says in the video.
ٹی ٹی پی کے ایک دہشتگرد نے خوست میں طالبان کے وزیرِ داخلہ سراج الدین حقانی سے ملاقات کی۔ ملاقات کے دوران اس نے اپنا تعارف کراتے ہوئے کہا:
’’میرا نام ذبیح اللہ ہے، میرا تعلق جنوبی وزیرستان کے علاقے کوٹکئی سے ہے اور میں ٹی ٹی پی کے حکیم اللہ محسود اور قاری حسین دھڑوں سے وابستہ ہوں۔‘‘
— Kabul International کابل انٹرنیشنل (@Kabulintlnews) October 26, 2026
The footage has drawn attention amid longstanding tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the presence of TTP terrorists on Afghan territory.
Who Were Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain?
Hakimullah Mehsud, the TTP’s top leader, was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in November 2013. Qari Hussain, a senior TTP operative known for training suicide bombers, was killed in a separate US drone strike in October 2010. Both were prominent figures in the group’s campaign of attacks against Pakistani security forces and other targets.
Hakimullah Mehsud (1978–2013)
Hakimullah Mehsud was a former head or supreme commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He assumed leadership in August 2009 following the death of the group’s founder, Baitullah Mehsud, under whose command he had served as an aide and spokesman.
During his leadership, the TTP intensified its campaign of attacks inside Pakistan. Hakimullah also appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the 2009 suicide bombing at a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, which killed seven Americans. The US Department of Justice later charged him in connection with a conspiracy to murder US citizens abroad.
He was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in 2013.
Qari Hussain (1988–2010)
Qari Hussain was a senior TTP commander who oversaw the group’s suicide bombing operations. Known as Ustad-e-Fidayeen, or “teacher of suicide bombers”, he was associated with recruitment and training networks in Pakistan’s tribal areas, including the recruitment of young people for suicide attacks.
He was linked to the TTP’s campaign of suicide bombings in Pakistan and was also associated with reporting on plots targeting international interests, including the 2009 attack on the CIA base in Khost and the failed 2010 Times Square bombing attempt in New York.
Hussain was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in 2010.
Cross-Border Tensions
Pakistan has repeatedly demanded that the Taliban authorities take action against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups it accuses of using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Pakistan this month ruled out unconditional talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, insisting that any dialogue must be supported by verifiable action to stop terrorist attacks originating from Afghan soil.
Citing United Nations monitoring reports and other assessments, Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said more than 20 terrorist organisations were operating in Afghanistan, raising security concerns for Pakistan and other regional countries, including China, Uzbekistan and Iran.
He said more than 1,300 Pakistanis had been killed in terrorist attacks over the past year, arguing that further talks would have little practical value unless the Taliban acknowledged the threat and established a credible mechanism to prevent Afghan territory from being used for attacks against Pakistan.
