The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report has endorsed Pakistan’s view regarding terrorists of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) taking refuge within hideouts and sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Addressing the weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the report mentions how the TTP — declared as ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ by the Pakistani government — could “transform into an extra-regional threat as well as and “umbrella organisation” of other terror groups.
The UN report, according to Baloch, pointed out that the TTP operatives and its recruits are being trained in Afghanistan.
FO then urged Afghanistan to take immediate, effective and robust action against the terrorist groups including the ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’. Baloch further maintained that the Afghan side must ensure that their land is not used for terrorist activities inside Pakistan.
The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan had long been conveying that the terrorist outfit had a support structure in Afghanistan, adding that the UN report highlighted the increased collaboration of the banned terrorist organisation with the Afghan Taliban.
“We have also been urging Afghanistan to take immediate and robust action against those using Afghan soil for terror activities in Pakistan,” she said.
The FO remarks came in response to the UNSC report that revealed “an increased collaboration between the TTP and Afghan Taliban in the cross-border terrorist attacks mainly against Pakistani military posts”.
The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which produced the UNSC report, said Pakistan suffered more than eight hundred attacks in the past several months.
It added that the terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan is causing heightened concern in many UN member states.
The report underscored that there is increased support and collaboration between TTP and the Taliban, sharing manpower and training camps in Afghanistan and conducting more lethal attacks under the banner of Tehrik-e Jihad Pakistan.
“According to the report, Al-Qaeda seeks to strengthen cooperation with regional terrorist organizations of non-Afghan origin, such as ETIM/TIP, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Jamaat Ansarullah for expansion to Central Asia,” a Radio Pakistan news report stated.
