The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Pakistan’s Taliban said on Monday that they have called off the ceasefire agreed upon with the government in June and ordered fighters to continue their jihad across the country.
This comes on the eve of two significant developments in Pakistan — the change of command in Pakistan Army and the visit of Pakistan MoS (foreign affairs) to Afghanistan.
For years, Pakistan has used Islamist terror as a state policy against India and Afghanistan.
News18 had exclusively reported on August 30 that the TTP plans to break the ceasefire with the government.
IN THE WORKS
The TTP had been publicly raising funds inside mosques during the Friday prayers in Jalalabad city and districts in Ningarhar province, sources had told News18. “The funds are raised in the name of jihad against the Pakistani State and the Pakistan Army," the source had said.
News18 had also reported on August 10 that at least 400-500 militants are back in Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the restive northwest Pakistan, following an understanding during the talks between the government and the TTP in Kabul.
According to sources, the armed militants have captured the mountains and have started to extort local businessmen.
The TIMING
Pakistan Army’s change of command ceremony will be held on Tuesday, according to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Outgoing Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa will hand over the “baton of command" to Gen Asim Munir, who was chosen by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on November 24.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will lead a high-level delegation to Afghanistan on Tuesday.
THE TTP
The TTP is a banned militant group based along the Afghan-Pakistan border. It has carried out a number of major attacks on Pakistani security personnel. After several rounds of talks, the Pakistan government and the TTP in June agreed to extend a ceasefire indefinitely, while continuing negotiations to end the nearly two decades of militancy.
The TTP was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan. The group, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on the Army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
Pakistan has been fencing the 2,600-km border with Afghanistan since 2017 to end terrorist infiltration and smuggling, despite intense opposition from the neighbouring country. Besides a fence, the project includes the construction of border posts and forts and raising of new wings of the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force that guards the border.
When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last year, Pakistan hoped that the new dispensation would deal with the terrorist groups.
With Agency Inputs
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