Daily Times

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has formally announced to end months-long process of peace talks with the government of Pakistan by ordering their top commanders to launch attacks across the country on Pakistan’s security forces. These peace talks suffered several deadlocks as Pakistan’s government refused to fulfil the TTP’s demands for the reversal of the FATA merger, the release of the TTP’s key operators involved in major terrorist activities in Pakistan, and the withdrawal of Pakistani troops from former tribal areas.

The so-called peace talks were hosted and brokered by the interior minister of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the then Corps Commander Peshawar. The initiative was taken to ease the mounting tensions between the Taliban government and the government of Pakistan over the use of Afghan soil for activities of the TTP. The peace process was brokered and led to a fragile unilateral ceasefire in June 2022. However, the process failed and resulted in a deadlock as the TTP was reluctant to budge from its demands, which, if accepted, would have undermined the sovereignty of Pakistan.

Now, the TTP continues to be a source of vexation and concern for the state of Pakistan as the militant group has been waging an armed rebellion against the security forces and law enforcement agencies for over a decade. According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), the TTP carried out 282 attacks in 2021, which resulted in the deaths of 500 law enforcement personnel, followed by another 42 attacks in January 2022.

Pakistan needs to counter this imminent threat on the basis of strong public sentiment.

Ever since the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban regime and the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Pakistan and the TTP, terrorist activities did not stop. Dozens of major attacks were carried out by the TTP in December 2022 alone. Two days after the TTP ended the ceasefire with the Pakistan government; it targeted a vehicle carrying security personnel deployed to protect polio vaccination campaign workers in the capital of Balochistan province, killing one police officer and two civilians and wounding dozens. On the other hand, Pakistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Kabul on November 29, 2022, one day after the end of the TTP truce to discuss bilateral issues of common interests and regional security. This event was marred by yet another attack on the Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires to Afghanistan, Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani, on December 2, 2022.

Recently, the TTP carried out an attack on the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on December 18, 2022. During this attack, militants overpowered guards and took them hostage. A rescue operation was carried out by Pakistan’s Special Service Group (SSG) and two SSGs embraced martyrdom and several others were injured, however, hostages were freed.

There is not a speck of doubt that the TTP conundrum continues to haunt Pakistan and poses an urgent national security challenge to Pakistan. Pakistan, as a result, needs to counter this imminent threat by channelling strong public sentiment against this group. This can only be done by empowering judicial bodies and law enforcement agencies for identifying, preventing, and prosecuting the members of TTP. Similarly, patrolling and vigilant monitoring of the newly fenced border with Afghanistan with clearly established rules of engagement is also needed. Moreover, an increased number of security officers need to be deployed in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan also needs to establish a clear understanding with the Taliban government that any cross-border terrorism from Afghan soil will not be tolerated. Taliban government especially the Haqqani network with which the TTP claims its ideological allegiance should keep a check on the TTP’s movement across the border. Lastly, Pakistan should try to forge better gathering and sharing of intelligence with regional and global partners to facilitate better targeting, tracking, and elimination of key militant figures.

The writer is a commentator on socio-political issues.