Journalists from Khyber Pakthuknwa have reported that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is raising funds from southern Afghanistan, after a leaflet asking people from Khost, Afghanistan for donations began circulating on social media.
The TTP is reportedly collecting donations from markets in Khost province, where the group has managed to remobilise following the Afghan Taliban’s return to power. The authenticity of the leaflet was confirmed by journalist Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud who said he spoke to a TTP source.
“We’re doing what our brothers (Afghan Taliban) used to do (collect donations) in Pakistan”, the TTP source said.
Leaflet circulating on social media since yesterday, asking people in Khost, Afg for donations to support TTP Jihad in Pak. TTP sources in Waziristan confirmed authenticity: “We’re doing what our brothers (Afg Taliban) used to do (collect donations) in Pak”, one TTP source says. pic.twitter.com/yHEqQZvyKV
— Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud (@IhsanTipu) March 11, 2022
In recent months, Pakistan has experienced an uptick of terrorism across the country, with some members of the government concerned that terrorist groups are reassembling.
The TTP claimed responsibility for an attack targeting two policemen in Islamabad in January.
Following the attack, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid acknowledged that the TTP had ramped up its attacks across the country after a brief ceasefire, but added that the government would not negotiate with the terrorist group again.
However, North Waziristan MNA and National Democratic Movement Chairman Mohsin Dawar in an article published in the Friday Times claimed that “local elders of the Wazir, Mehsud and Dawar tribes from North and South Waziristan are being used as jirgas to engage the TTP and other Taliban groups for talks in Afghanistan.”
In 2021, Pakistan experienced a 56 per cent increase in violent, militant attacks from the year prior. At least 388 people died and another 600 were wounded in terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2021, according to Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).
