Taleban offshoots seen sabotaging peace talks

Recent attacks claimed by Ahrarul-Hind and Ansarul Mujahideen have raised fears that the militant movement may be splintering dangerously

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has hailed progress in peace talks with the country’s main Taleban faction, but attacks claimed by mysterious splinter factions are threatening to undermine the dialogue process.

The Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) declared a one-month ceasefire last weekend, but that was swiftly followed by a major attack in Islamabad and a bloody roadside bombing targeting security forces — both claimed by dissident groups.

Less than 48 hours after the TTP announced its ceasefire, a gun and suicide bomb assault on an Islamabad court complex on Monday left 12 dead, the first attack in the heavily guarded capital since 2011.

It was disowned by the TTP central command but claimed by a group calling itself Ahrar-ulHind, while Wednesday’s roadside bombing in the northwest that killed six paramilitary troops was claimed by another renegade faction, Ansarul Mujahideen.

Talks aimed at ending the TTP’s seven-year insurgency resumed on Wednesday despite those blows, and on Thursday the government announced it was setting up a new committee to accelerate the process.

But the attacks have raised fears that the militant movement is splintering dangerously — though several analysts said they suspected the “new” factions were simply the TTP operating under another guise. According to militant and government sources, Ahrarul Hind was formed early last month by TTP fighters opposed to peace talks.

A written statement from the group sent to Pakistani media on February 9 said it will not take part in peace talks and will carry on attacking Pakistani cities, even if the government and TTP reach a peace deal.

‘Attacks inside cities’

“It is our resolve that we will continue our suicide attacks and armed struggle in Pakistan until enforcement of sharia,” Asad Mansoor, the group’s spokesman, said in the statement.

“As we belong to Pakistan’s cities so we will directly hit and carry (out) attacks inside cities.”

The statement described the TTP as “brothers” but said the group was going its own way and would not be bound by the umbrella faction’s orders.

Unheard of name

Mansoor said Ahrarul Hind was led by Maulana Umar Qasmi, though several sources in militant groups said they had not heard this name before.

Few details have emerged about the group, though one militant source said many of its members were based in the eastern part of Afghanistan.

110 killed since talks

More than 110 people have been killed in militant attacks since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced talks with the TTP in late January.

As a result, some observers have suggested that the TTP is either unable to control the various militant groups carrying out attacks in Pakistan or insincere — using talks as cover to regroup and rearm.

Saifullah Mehsud, who runs the independent Fata think tank re-

A militant source in North Waziristan tribal district said Ahrarul Hind was largely composed of Punjabi Taleban

One commander in the northwest said the group had been in touch with four or five outfits

The group had also contacted the remnants of a faction formerly led by Badar Mansoor, the slain head of the Pakistan chapter of Al Qaeda searching Pakistan’s restive tribal area, said he was doubtful about the new “splinter” groups.

“To me they are all the same. I don’t see any difference between Ansarul Mujahideen, between Ahrarul Hind and between Taleban. They are the same residing in the same places, sharing the same premises,” he said.

‘Typical Taleban style’

Defence analyst Saad Muhammad agreed, saying an attack of the complexity of Monday’s strike on the courts, involving several assailants armed with guns, grenades and suicide vests, suggested an experienced, well-resourced outfit was.

“All the suicide factories are located in North Waziristan and these suicide factories are run jointly by Taleban and the Haqqani network,” he said.

Security analyst Mehmood Shah, a former chief of security for the tribal areas, shared the scepticism.

“This is a typical Taleban style, that they launch an attack but issue a denial,” he said.