NEW DELHI, March 24: At least three Pakistani soldiers were killed and five injured in a terrorist attack allegedly carried out by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in Miran Shah town of North Waziristan in Pakistan. The terror attack comes amid the TTP’s efforts to escalate its fight against the Pakistan army since Afghan Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year.
According to media reports, Tehreek-i-Taliban through distribution of leaflets has been asking people in Afghanistan’s Khost province to support its ‘jihad’ in Pakistan. The TTP has been fighting the Pakistan regime since 2007. According to the International Forum For Right And Security (IFFRAS), the Afghan Taliban is unlikely to take any action to curb TTP, giving strength to the possibilities of more attacks in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border along the Durand Line.
According to IFFRAS, there was a belief that the Afghan Taliban would not allow TTP to carry out attacks on Pakistan. As per reports, there are 3,000-5,000 fighters in Afghanistan, and family members of several terrorists wish to resettle in Pakistan.
Last month, Pakistan interior minister Sheikh Rashid had said talks with the TTP couldn’t move forward despite the Afghan Taliban’s help acknowledging that the terrorist group had ramped up its attacks across the country after a brief month-long ceasefire that collapsed on December 9, 2021. Efforts to reach a peace pact since, with the help of Wazir, Mehsud and Dawar tribes from North and South Waziristan have failed.
For the first time, Islamabad had accused the Afghan regime of allowing terrorist groups to operate on its soil. At least 388 people died and another 600 were wounded in terrorist attacks in the country in 2021, according to Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
(Manas Dasgupta)