New Delhi: According to a report from the US State Department, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group has increased the number of its targeted attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), with the goal of overthrowing the provincial government and enforcing Sharia law through a terror campaign against the military and the state, reported news agency IANS. The TTP uses the porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the tribal belt on both sides as a sanctuary for the training and deployment of its operatives, according to the report “2021 Country Reports on Terrorism.”
According to the statement, “TTP draws its ideological guidance from Al Qaeda, while elements of the terror group rely in part on TTP for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” quoted IANS. “This arrangement has given TTP access to both Al Qaeda’s global terrorist network and its members’ operational expertise.”
The tribal belt access to the border benefits a number of terrorist organisations that have been involved in major attacks in Pakistan, including the TTP, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
“Pakistan experienced significant terrorist activity during the year in review i.e 2021. In 2021, separatist militant groups conducted terrorist attacks against varied targets in Balochistan and Sindh provinces.
“Terrorists used a range of tactics to attack varied targets, including Improvised Explosive Devices, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, suicide bombings, and targeted assassinations,” the report said.
It also brought to light Pakistan’s important counterterrorism efforts to reduce terror financing by cracking down on India-focused militant organisations like the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), its subsidiary ambulance and emergency response service Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), as well as other affiliate organisations and individuals like Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
In addition, the report criticised Pakistan’s failure to maintain its counterterrorism response, which has allowed terrorist groups to periodically regroup and reassemble.
It emphasised that Pakistan faces significant threats from ISKP, the Afghan Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in addition to the TTP.
These groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians and government officials in Pakistan and are thought to have 3,000 to 5,000 militants there.
Pakistan is also criticised in the report for failing to uphold its promise not to permit any terror organisation to operate on its soil or in the country. Terror organisations such as the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Taiha (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) continued to operate from Pakistani soil in 2021, the report adds.
“Pakistan took some steps in 2021 to counter terror financing and to restrain some India-focused militant groups, authorities did not take sufficient action to dismantle them,” the report said.
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