Since unilaterally ending last year a ceasefire inked with Islamabad, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has once again become a threat to the country’s security, targeting cities from Peshawar to Karachi, while also challenging its territorial sovereignty in border areas. Previously ensconced in “friendly” Afghanistan, the militants have used the ceasefire—as warned by multiple independent observers—to infiltrate into Pakistan, with multiple reports indicating a return to tried-and-tested methods of demanding “protection fees” from locals to fund their militancy. Multiple meetings of the civil-military National Security Council have taken notice of this, vowing to eradicate all terrorists “without distinction.” Consequently, the TTP has threatened Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, even as it continues to target law enforcers nationwide.
On Jan. 30, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the TTP claimed a suicide bombing at a mosque in Peshawar that killed 84 people—mostly police—and injured over 220 others; the main TTP group denied any responsibility. The subsequent months have fared little better, with almost 200 militant attacks of varying intensity reported in various parts of the country. Key to the resurgence of terrorism is the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, emboldening the TTP seeking the imposition of shariah in Pakistan. Despite promises of ensuring their soil is not used for terrorism against any other state, the Taliban have failed to tackle the TTP militants holed up in their country. Official protests have been ignored, with Kabul merely “advising” Islamabad to settle matters through dialogue that is anathema to Pakistanis increasingly angry with militants.
A growing concern among security experts is how the return of the TTP is endangering Pakistan’s sovereignty. In February, the TTP unveiled a new organizational structure, divided between north and south zones, with nine administrative and operational units covering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan. This was followed by the formation of additional units in Balochistan and Punjab, leaving every province with a “shadow” governor or deputy, along the pattern established by the Afghan Taliban during their battle against U.S.-led NATO forces.
Since December 2021, when TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud described his group as an extension of the Afghan Taliban into Pakistan, the militant group has carefully disseminated messages aimed at the international audience. The aim, it appears, is to project the TTP as an insurgent group “protecting” the rights of the Pashtun and Baloch, who remain the biggest targets of its militancy. There is no easy exit from the crisis Pakistan is now embroiled in, largely of its own making, and all vows to counter the militants through military means alone will undoubtedly prove insufficient without achieving internal stability and ensuring due rights for all Pakistanis—regardless of their domiciles.