The head of UN Security Council (UNSC)’s 1267 al-Qaida sanctions committee has warned of the “serious threat” posed by the Afghan Taliban-backed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying the terrorist group has conducted numerous high-profile attacks in Pakistan from Afghan soil, “some of which incurred mass casualties”.
“The TTP, with its approximately 6,000 fighters, is another serious threat emanating from the region, receiving both logistical and substantial support from the de facto (Taliban) authorities,” Denmark’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi said in a report to the UNSC in her capacity as the committee’s chair.
She made that statement as the 15-member council was briefed by the heads of three of its subsidiary bodies – which relate to Da’esh/al-Qaida, UN counter-terrorism efforts and measures to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to non-State actors – hearing that the threat posed by terrorism continues to evolve, especially in Africa, as malign actors exploit new technologies to pursue dangerous ends.
Commenting on the report, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Usman Jadoon, portraying Pakistan as a frontline state in global efforts to counter terrorism, said the country has rendered invaluable sacrifices in its efforts to eradicate this menace, with over 80,000 casualties and billions of dollars in economic losses. Al-Qaida, he added, was decimated largely due to Pakistan’s efforts.
“Our valiant security forces and law enforcement agencies continue to counter the terrorism threat emanating from Afghanistan where entities like ISIL-K, TTP and its affiliates, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade are thriving under the patronage of their hosts and backed by our principle adversary and net destabiliser in the region,’ he said, without naming India.
Ambassador Jadoon said that the 1267 Committee’s sanctions regime must “reflect ground realities”, and that listing and delisting issues must be dealt with “in a fair, transparent and judicious manner and without political considerations”.
The Pakistani envoy also stressed that, to adopt a zero-tolerance approach, the UN’s counter-terrorism architecture “must also possess the necessary tools to designate violent, far-right, extreme right-wing, ultranationalist, xenophobic and Islamophobic groups around the world”.
The representative of China, for his part, urged members of the committee to support the listing of the BLA and its Majeed Brigade, “sending a strong signal of zero-tolerance for terrorism”.