Daily Times

In recent days, terrorists hiding in Afghanistan in various areas of Pakistan tried to attack and harm the Pakistan Army, but the retaliatory actions and timely response of the Pakistan Army prevented them from causing any major damage. The chief of the armed forces of Pakistan has clearly declared that he will not tolerate terrorism from the territory of the neighbouring country. Army Chief General Asim Munir said that acts of terrorism by Afghan citizens in Pakistan are not acceptable, and Pakistan’s security forces will respond effectively to such attacks. Army Chief General Asim Munir, while expressing serious concerns about the safe havens of the outlawed TTP in Afghanistan, said that he expects the Afghan government will not allow terrorists to use its territory, and the Afghan interim government should ensure the implementation of the Doha Agreement.

To find out who these Tehreek-e-Taliban terrorists are hiding in Afghanistan, we have to look back on the past. Since they are called the B-team of the Afghan Taliban, there is still a love relationship between the Afghan government and them, due to which their hideouts have not yet disappeared from Afghanistan, but they have become stronger after the Afghan Taliban came to the government. After the establishment of TTP in 2007, under the leadership of its leader Baitullah Mehsud, a wave of terrorism arose in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which gradually spread to other areas of Pakistan. As a result of the Pakistan Army’s anti-terrorist operations, TTP terrorists escaped from Pakistan’s tribal belt and made their bases across the border in Afghanistan. Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid recently told an international news agency in an interview that the territory of Afghanistan is not being used in any kind of operations against any country including Pakistan, and there are no TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, this claim of Zabihullah Mujahid is completely contrary to the ground realities.

Afghan Taliban have to step up operations against TTP or Pakistan can go to any extent for self-defense.

Through this column, we try to show a mirror to Zabihullah Mujahid Sahib so that he may see where TTP terrorists are present in Afghanistan. Didn’t the Afghan Taliban host the notorious TTP commander Yasir Parke in Kabul in recent days? He was brought from Kunar by a special flight and was also given a tour of the Presidential Palace in Kabul. Do you know the leadership of Taliban Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Aleem Khan reside in Khushali, Barmal, Khost and Liman? TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud is warmly welcomed on his visit to a training camp in Barmal Afghanistan. Will Zabihullah Mujahid still say that TTP does not exist in Afghanistan?

A camp in Gulon Khost run by Mufti Ahmad Shah trains suicide bombers. He is a close friend of Ameer Hafiz Gul Bahadur and is a part of all important operations of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. There are also suicide bomber training centres in the Shonkre area of Kunar, just 3.3 kilometres from the Pakistan border. Terrorist commander Mullah Saber alias Sangin is in charge of the center and the main purpose of the center is to train suicide bombers. Haji Abdul Hadi (brother of Deputy Minister of Minerals) from Chanchad Pul District Laghman buys arms from Laghman, Kabul, Nangarhar, Kunar, and Nuristan and transports them to Nangarhar for smuggling to Pakistan. Does Zabihullah Mujahid have no idea of his activities?

In recent days, many such incidents have taken place in Pakistan, the fabrics of which are directly related to Afghanistan, on which Pakistan’s Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir and Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif have pointed out that Afghanistan should fulfil its right to be a neighbouring Islamic country. On January 30, the TTP attacked the police headquarters in Peshawar, killing more than 80 people. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar’s Sarbakif Mahmmand claimed responsibility for the attack. Then on February 17, the TTP attacked a compound in the heart of Pakistan’s economic hub, Karachi, which housed the office of the police chief of Sindh province. Five to four security personnel and a civilian were killed in this attack. The family of one of the attackers in this attack revealed that he had gone to Afghanistan for training five months ago. After investigating both attacks, it was revealed that the attackers either came to Pakistan after receiving training from Afghanistan or belonged to Afghanistan.

Army Public School attack mastermind Umar Khalid Khorasani was killed along with Mufti Hasan and Hafiz Daulat Khan in East Paktika in a roadside bomb attack near Burmal District. Zabihullah Sahib, if TTP has no presence in Afghanistan, then why are their operatives always targeted in Afghanistan?

Multiple training camps of the TTP continue to operate on Afghan soil without hindrance or pressure, organizing large gatherings and training Afghans and others to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan. All this evidence makes it very clear that the TTP has the full support of the Afghan Taliban. Afghan Taliban have to step up operations against TTP or Pakistan can go to any extent for self-defense. Army chief Syed Hafiz Munir has also bluntly stated that if the government of Afghanistan does not target the hideouts of TTP, then Pakistan will have to take strict action.

He writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.