Some 6k militants from banned TTP in Afghanistan: Pak official
ISLAMABAD: An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 militants from the banned TTP have taken shelter in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani has said, amidst a slew of terrorist attacks in this country.
Durrani was speaking on Saturday at a programme hosted by an Islamabad-based think tank, the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), on the topic of ‘Afghan peace and reconciliation: Pakistan’s interests and policy options’ which was the 12th of the series of consultative talks on the Afghan issue, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday. He said about 5,000 to 6,000 TTP militants were in Afghanistan.
“If we include their families, then the number goes up to 70,000,” Durrani said. Durrani said Pakistan’s peace talks with the banned TTP failed in the past because the militant group was neither ready to surrender nor swear allegiance to the Constitution of Pakistan.
The special envoy said it was apparent someone else was paying for their upkeep as the interim Afghan government could not afford the perday expenditure of such a large number of people.
The third primary reason for the deadlock in talks was that the group didn’t want to face law for the heinous crimes it committed, including the attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, he added.
Durrani said Pakistan had told the interim government in Kabul that the latter needed to make TTP surrender and disarm the group and detain its leadership. He clarified that “TTP is the red line for Pakistan”.