In a major security hazard, two splinter groups of the defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have rejoined the terrorist outfit, with their leaders and Shura members swearing allegiance to TTP chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud in Afghanistan.
Multiple sources have confirmed the rejoining of TTP’s splinter groups – Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Hizb-ul-Ahrar (HuA) – both groups known for carrying out deadly terrorist attacks against the Pakistani military, state apparatus, and individuals. A source claimed that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, another defunct terrorist group, has also rejoined the TTP but the report is yet to be confirmed.
It was none other than the former TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who recently managed to escape from a military safe house, that made the claim on Twitter, a social media platform.
Later, TTP’s Umar Media officially announced the merger, claiming that JuA chief Umar Khalid Khurasani and HuA’s Ameer Umar Khurasani had met with TTP chief and swore allegiance.
“We also send a message to our enemy that our sacred jihad would continue till Pakistan is cleansed of evil system and oppressed are free from the shackles of the oppressor,” the message read.
Social media is now rife with videos and photographs of the allegiance ceremony held somewhere in Afghanistan. Experts, however, are of the opinion that such known terrorists cannot gather openly for a ceremony without the support and facilitation of the Afghan intelligence.
Later, several reliable sources and social media accounts also shared details of the merger.
Sources have revealed that the sole objective of the merger is to launch terrorist activity against Pakistan while simultaneously sabotaging efforts to restore peace and stability in its war-ravaged neighbor, Afghanistan.
However, the merger appears to have been in the making for several months. According to sources, representatives from TTP, JuA, and HuA have met several times in different locations inside Afghanistan to discuss their reunification.
The effort even ended up in deadlock at one point recently, sources revealed. On August 13, talks had all but stalled, they said. Talks resumed three days later, but only after direct intervention by operatives from Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the sources added.
The talks culminated in an oath of allegiance to bring the three militant factions together, which was held in Afghanistan’s Paktia and Kunar provinces, the sources said. The agreement, reportedly, designates Mufti Noor Wali as the “Amir” of TTP, making him responsible for all planned terrorist activities inside Pakistan.
Meanwhile, JuA’s Ikram Turabi, who was bailed out from Peshawar Central Jail earlier this year, also arrived in Afghanistan and has been appointed as the head of the Amari Shura.
Under the terms of the merger, all terrorist attacks would be sanctioned and approved by TTP’s Markazi and Rahbari Shuras. More alarmingly, their prime target will be Pakistan’s military, paramilitary, and law enforcement.
But physical attacks seem to be only one aspect of the newly merged terrorist outfit, the sources said. According to them, an intercepted voice message sent by TTP leader Maulvi Rafiuddin to TTP commander Abu Hamza revealed that the group plans to create a false impression that the merger took place in Pakistan to malign the country’s reputation and discredit its anti-terror gains.
Not only is Rafiuddin based in Afghanistan’s Logar province, but he has also been known for coordinating meetings between TTP leaders and Afghan law enforcement agencies, the sources further said.
There are still a few sticking points between the three militant groups despite the merger. According to sources, there is a stalemate between the terrorist factions over income from certain nephrite and marble mines in Mohmand. The JuA also wants TTP’s assistance in securing the release of JuA commander Ezatullah, who is currently in Afghan Taliban custody.
Islamabad has long accused Kabul of turning a blind eye toward TTP and other terrorists that fled to Afghanistan to escape counter-terrorist operations in Pakistan. Pakistan’s concerns were supported in a recent report presented to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that revealed massive TTP presence inside Afghanistan.
“A large terrorist group present in Afghanistan, Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, is led by Amir Noor Wali Mehsud, supported by his deputy Qari Amjad and TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani,” the 26th report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team read. “Many former TTP members have already joined ISIL-K and Member States expect that the group and its various splinter groups will align themselves with ISIL-K. The total number of Pakistani foreign terrorist fighters in Afghanistan, posing a threat to both countries, is estimated at between 6,000 and 6,500, most of them with TTP,” it concluded.
