In a significant policy about-face, the TTP has issued a threat to both the PPP and the PML-N.
Asks religious organizations to “refrain from efforts against them.”
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are the two largest parties in the government coalition, and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced on Wednesday that it is considering taking direct action against them (PML-N).
The TTP warned that “action will be done against their leadership persons” if the two parties “stay solid on their stand and continue to be slaves of the army.”
“People should refrain from approaching such powerful individuals,” was added.
The TTP asserted that “the TTP’s Jihadi field is just Pakistan and our objective is the security forces occupying the country” and that “the world is aware of this.”
The statement continued, “Unfortunately… [Foreign Minister] Bilawal Bhutto Zardari gave the United States (US) the status of mother to quench the thirst of his mother’s love,” adding that by doing so “he openly declared war against TTP.” It went on to say that it had not taken action against any political party for a long time.
The message continued, “Bilawal Sir is still a young man, yet this unfortunate man has not yet seen the state of war.
The TTP added that in order to appease the US, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “pushed the whole party into this war waging against TTP.”
In a statement to the religious leaders, the TTP stated that there was no room for action against them under TTP policy, but added, “We also implore that you stop from operations against us.”
The TTP’s announcement comes just one day after FM Bilawal declared that the coalition government would abandon “the policy of appeasement” of terrorists, reversing the approach taken by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration, which had engaged in talks with the banned organisation.
Additionally, he distinguished between the TTP and the Taliban in Afghanistan, claiming that the former was a “fact” with “a history” of existence while the latter was nothing more than a terrorist group.
Additionally, PM Shehbaz presided over a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting earlier this week that discussed the Afghan policy, specifically efforts to reach a peace agreement with the TTP, which is prohibited.
The NSC made some significant policy decisions after reviewing the PTI government’s agenda and trying to undo some of the bad ideas. According to a source in Islamabad, the NSC had resolved that “there will be no longer any negotiation” with the TTP.
TTP armistice
The TTP issued a statement in November stating that they had ordered their militants to carry out terrorist strikes across the nation after calling off a ceasefire they had reached with the federal government in June.
Since its formation in 2007, the TTP has been accountable for hundreds of attacks and thousands of fatalities while remaining distinct from the Taliban in Afghanistan but sharing a similar harsh ideology.
After the new Taliban authorities in Afghanistan played a significant role in mediating peace talks, the government and the TTP had earlier this year agreed to a truce, but negotiations made little headway and there were numerous violations.
