The Afghan Taliban has been assured of the decision to relocate or shift members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) away from the Pakistan border. However the execution of the plan may not go as smoothly as the TTP is reportedly ‘annoyed over this decision’ and consequently may strongly resist the decision.
The members of TTP have decided not to argue over the recent decision regarding ‘shifting’ to Western or northern parts/ provinces of Afghanistan but as per sources they have shown an interest in the development of a proper strategy with the consultation of its leadership.
The TTP has also sent a letter to its commanders and fighters with the clear-cut instructions to not ‘argue on the shifting issue with anyone.’ They also were told to not engage in conversation with Afghan Taliban on this matter and asked them to take up this matter only with their leadership.
The TTP, in its letter, mentioned that they were to follow the instructions of their leadership on this matter.
According to the agreement between Kabul and Pakistan, the discussion focused on relocating them to other parts of Afghanistan away from the Pakistan border. During his recent visit, the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi agreed with Islamabad over the relocation of TTP.
Currently, thousands of Pakistani Taliban and their families are living in Khost, Paktia and Kunar. Pakistan is accusing them of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. These families mainly went to Afghanistan during the 2014 Zarb e Azb operation.
IPakistan was disappointed with the Afghan Taliban for not taking care of its security interests by sheltering the TTP. The two sides were trying to find a middle ground to address the TTP issue and finally reached on a proposal to relocate TTP fighters away from Pakistan borders.
In a recent meeting in Norway, Pakistan pressed for continued engagement with the Afghan government despite conceding that the Afghan Taliban had failed to honour commitments with the international community.
Since the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan in August 2021, there has been a significant increase in TTP attacks on Pakistan as TTP even claimed responsibility for many attacks in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions.
The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan spans 2,670 kilometers (1,659 miles) and includes 18 designated points of entry. Tensions between the two neighbours increased after the Taliban removed the border fencing at some points along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, resulting in an increase in TTP terrorist attacks inside Pakistan in recent months.__The Friday Times
