Afghan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan persistent risk to Pakistan: UNSC report

A United Nations Security Council report reminded concerning the persistent risk Pakistan’s safety faces from the Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and warned that prospects of success of the continuing peace course of with the dreaded terror group have been bleak, in keeping with a media report.

The annual report of the 1988 Taliban sanctions committee monitoring workforce famous TTP’s linkages with the Afghan Taliban and defined how the group benefitted from the autumn of the Ghani regime final yr and touched upon its relations with different terrorist teams working from Afghanistan.

The banned TTP, the report famous, had as much as 4,000 fighters primarily based in east and south-east areas alongside the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and made up the most important group of overseas fighters primarily based there, in keeping with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.

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This was the workforce’s first report for the committee because the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August final yr.

The report’s unique focus was on the Taliban’s inside politics, its funds, relations with Al-Qaeda, Daesh, and different terrorist teams, and the implementation of the UNSC sanctions.

The report’s launch coincided with the beginning of the third spherical of talks between the Pakistan authorities and TTP final Thursday.

The first spherical of talks, held in November final yr, had yielded a month-long ceasefire that later broke down after TTP accused Islamabad of not fulfilling guarantees.

The TTP subsequently resumed assaults towards Pakistani forces. Statistics tabulated by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies reveal that this yr, the militant group carried out almost 46 assaults, principally towards legislation enforcement personnel, during which 79 individuals misplaced their lives.

On March 30, the TTP, emulating the Afghan Taliban’s technique in the course of the US warfare in Afghanistan, introduced a “Spring Offensive” towards safety forces right here.

The peace course of, which is being facilitated by Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, in the meantime, resumed earlier this month after each side took confidence-building measures.

The TTP militants have been combating with the Pakistani safety forces since 2008, when the outfit was arrange, to press for the implementation of the Sharia legal guidelines within the nation.

However, the group is being pressed by the Afghan Taliban for talks with the Pakistan authorities to finish the battle.

The TTP first introduced a ceasefire on the event of Eid and later prolonged it after Pakistan launched a few its (TTP) commanders, who have been then on demise row.

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The spherical, during which the Pakistani delegation was led by Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Faiz Hamid, ended with each side presenting their set of calls for, the report mentioned.

TTP demanded the withdrawal of safety forces from erstwhile tribal areas, annulment of the merger of FATA with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, withdrawal of circumstances towards its fighters and their launch, and introduction of Shariah-based ‘Nizam-e-Adl’ in Malakand Division.

Although safety forces right here say that these calls for are unacceptable and their acceptance would imply capitulation of the State, the federal government delegation nonetheless entered into the third spherical of talks.

The high precedence for the Pakistani authorities within the newest spherical is to safe an extension within the ceasefire, which is expiring on May 30.

The Pakistani facet has, nevertheless, maintained full silence on the talks.

The UN report has warned that “The group (TTP) is focused on a long-term campaign against the Pakistani state”, which suggests “that ceasefire deals have a limited chance of success”.

It is vital to notice that TTP, which has not too long ago been reinvigorated by means of the return of 17 splinter teams into its fold, feels that sustaining a hardline place in talks with the Pakistan authorities would assist keep unity in its ranks.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose Haqqani Network is claimed to be unbiased of the grouping throughout the Afghan Taliban, has been “relied upon more than anyone else in the de facto administration” to behave as an middleman on this course of, which highlights the affect that he holds over TTP and different Pashtun teams.

The report noticed that as in comparison with different overseas militant teams, TTP was the largest beneficiary of final yr’s Taliban takeover and used this chance for conducting assaults and operations in Pakistan.

“The TTP also continues to exist as a stand-alone force, rather than feeling pressure to merge its fighters into Afghan Taliban units, as is the prospect for most foreign terrorist fighters,” it additional added.