The Balochistan government on Wednesday claimed it had arrested two high-value commanders—Nasrullah alias Maulvi Mansoor and Idris alias Irshad—of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as part of a “difficult” operation.
“We have apprehended an important terrorist network,” announced Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove at a press conference in Quetta. “Terrorists Nasrullah and Idris have been arrested after a difficult operation,” he said, adding investigations had found “external elements’ behind terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. “India is behind terrorist attacks in the country [and] provides financial support to the militants,” he alleged.
The minister played a video confession of one of the terrorists, Nasrullah, who alleged that both the TTP and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were facilitated by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) spy agency. “The TTP is funded by RAW,” claimed the militant, stating he had been responsible for the military, financial and administrative affairs of the banned group.
According to Nasrullah, the TTP leadership, including its chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, was residing in Afghanistan. This reflects Islamabad’s repeated demands for Kabul to take action against militants on its soil that stage attacks across the Durand Line in Pakistan. He also claimed the TTP was “working closely” with the BLA. “The RAW wanted BLA and TTP to collaborate, and establish the latter’s camps in Balochistan,” he said.
The militant alleged that Mufti Mehsud and Mufti Muazhim had claimed the TTP and its “friends,” i.e. RAW, had three objectives. “Establish a foothold in Balochistan; target Chinese citizens to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC); and carry out kidnapping for ransom which will highlight forced disappearances and discredit Pakistan’s intelligence agencies,” he claimed, listing them out. “A lot of ‘missing’ people roam free in Afghanistan,” he claimed.
Nasrullah also claimed the TTP chief met RAW officials at India’s embassy in Kabul, adding the incumbent Afghanistan government fully facilitated this.
After showing the video, Langove regretted that some of Pakistan’s youth had been misled and were harming their own country at the behest of the enemy. He also stressed that Nasrullah’s statement should leave no further doubt that “international terrorist country” India was behind the militancy in Pakistan.