RASC News Agency: Ali Amin Gandapur, the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has claimed that between 22,000 and 24,000 members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have found safe havens in Afghanistan. He further asserted that an additional 16,000 to 17,000 TTP militants are currently operating within Pakistan’s borders. In an interview with an international media outlet on Sunday, December 15, Gandapur addressed the challenges posed by the TTP insurgency. He described the group as a Pakistani terrorist organization and highlighted Pakistan’s inability to ensure full security along its extensive and porous border with Afghanistan. He remarked, “Pakistan lacks the capacity to fully secure law and order across thousands of kilometers of shared border with Afghanistan.”
The Chief Minister further explained that international laws prevent Pakistan from pursuing militants across Afghanistan territory. He urged the federal government to engage in dialogue with the Afghanistani Taliban to resolve the escalating issue. The Taliban administration in Afghanistan, however, has consistently denied allegations of harboring TTP militants, dismissing the claims as unfounded. In contrast, Pakistani officials previously stated in parliamentary discussions that over 55,000 TTP fighters had participated in the Afghanistani Taliban’s war against the former Afghanistan government. According to these officials, the support provided by TTP militants played a significant role in the Taliban’s capture of Kabul and other provinces.
It is important to note that throughout the Taliban’s three-decade-long insurgency in Afghanistan, the TTP not only sheltered Afghanistani Taliban fighters but also mobilized radicalized tribal youth to fight on their behalf. This longstanding alliance has further entrenched the insurgency’s reach and complexity in the region.
