A United Nations report has revealed that Afghan Taliban\u2019s continued support for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), despite Islamabad\u2019s increasing pressure to cease backing the outfit, was fuelling the group\u2019s escalating attacks in Pakistan. This was stated in the 35th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted to the UN Security Council. The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team is a panel of independent experts established by the UN Security Council to support sanctions implementation against individuals and entities linked to Al Qaeda, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Daesh) and associated groups. The team submits biannual reports assessing the threat landscape posed by these organisations to form international policy and security strategies. The report, covering the period from July 1 to Dec 13, 2024, states the \u201cstatus and strength of TTP in Afgha\u00adnistan had not changed\u201d, while the group intensified its assaults on Pakistan, conducting over 600 attacks during the reporting period, many laun\u00adched from Afghan territory. It underscored that the Taliban continued to provide the outlawed TTP with logistical and operational space and financial support, bolstering the group\u2019s capacity to sustain its activities. The report revealed that the family of TTP leader Noor Wali Masoud receives around $43,000 per month from the Afghan Taliban, reflecting a significant level of financial backing for the terrorist group. The TTP has also \u201cestablished new training centres in Kunar, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika (Barmal) provinces\u201d while enhancing recruitment, including from within the Afghan Taliban\u2019s ranks. This expansion has contributed to TTP\u2019s continued status as the largest Afghanistan-based terrorist organisation, with an estimated 6,000 to 6,500 fighters. The group\u2019s growing influence is linked to the Afghan Taliban\u2019s continued ideological and historical ties with TTP. Amid escalating attacks, Pakistan has intensified military operations under \u201cAzm-i-Istehkam\u201d, targeting TTP hideouts across the Afghan border, particularly in Paktika and Khost. These military measures include cross-border raids and retaliatory strikes. Simultaneously, Pakistan pursued diplomatic engagements, sending delegations to Kabul to urge the Afghan Taliban to take action against TTP sanctuaries. However, the Afghan authorities remained reluctant, proposing mediation rather than decisive measures, leading to a diplomatic impasse. The UN report corroborates these developments, highlighting that the Taliban\u2019s support has enabled TTP to escalate its offensive strategy against Pakistan. The report stated, \u201cThe ambition and scale of its (TTP) attacks on Pakistan\u2026 had significantly increased.\u201d TTP\u2019s operational capabilities have been further strengthened by increased collaboration with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and other terrorist groups. The report indicates that these organisations are \u201cconducting attacks under the banner of Tehrik-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP)\u201d. The report warned that enhanced cooperation among these terrorist groups, including \u201cprovision of suicide bombers and fighters and ideological guidance\u201d, could transform TTP into an \u201cextra-regional threat\u201d and potentially an umbrella organisation for other terrorist factions operating in South Asia. The proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), through its Majeed Brigade, executed several high-casualty attacks across south-western Pakistan, including in Awaran, Panjgur, and Dalbandin, during the reporting period, according to the report. Notably, the Majeed Brigade has incorporated women into its ranks. The report observed that the Majeed Brigade maintains connections with the banned TTP, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), and ETIM\/TIP, collaborating with these groups in its operational bases in Afghanistan. This emerging nexus between the BLA, which traditionally pursues ethno-nationalist objectives, and religiously inspired terrorist groups like TTP, indicates a strategic convergence of interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A United Nations report has revealed that Afghan Taliban\u2019s continued support for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), despite Islamabad\u2019s increasing pressure to cease backing the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22907,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news-updates"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diplomacypakistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}