ISLAMABAD, Mar 17: An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 militants from the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have taken shelter in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani has said, amidst a slew of terrorist attacks in this country.
Durrani was speaking on Saturday at a programme hosted by an Islamabad-based think tank, the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), on the topic of ‘Afghan peace and reconciliation: Pakistan’s interests and policy options’ which was the 12th of the series of consultative talks on the Afghan issue, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday.
He said about 5,000 to 6,000 TTP militants were in Afghanistan. “If we include their families, then the number goes up to 70,000,” Durrani said.
Durrani said Pakistan’s peace talks with the banned TTP failed in the past because the militant group was neither ready to surrender nor swear allegiance to the Constitution of Pakistan.
The special envoy said it was apparent someone else was paying for their upkeep as the interim Afghan government could not afford the per-day expenditure of such a large number of people.
The third primary reason for the deadlock in talks was that the group didn’t want to face law for the heinous crimes it committed, including the attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, he added.
Durrani said Pakistan had told the interim Government in Kabul that the latter needed to make TTP surrender and disarm the group and detain its leadership. He clarified that “TTP is the red line for Pakistan”.
His comments came after the Pakistan Army announced the death of at least seven of its personnel, including a Lieutenant Colonel and Captain, when six terrorists attacked a security forces’ post in Mir Ali of North Waziristan District on Friday. The TTP has been attacking Pakistani military personnel since a ceasefire deal with the dreaded militants and the government fell flat in 2022.
Referring to the Pakistan-Afghan border crossing issue, the envoy said Islamabad should implement the one-document regime on all border crossings with Afghanistan, according to the report.
According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 – marking a record six-year high.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84 per cent of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations. (PTI)
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