Banned TTP denies links to Al Qaeda, ISIS

 

Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Pakistan has rejected any links with Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, saying the group has no "global agenda" and is aimed only at Pakistan. In a statement on February 12, TTP Pakistan spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani reminded the US of Pakistan's double game and asked the US not to support Islamabad instead of supporting the rights of oppressed tribes.

"The US says that it will work with Pakistan against the TTP, they are trying to put pressure on us, but we will not be affected," the spokesman said. The US seems to have forgotten the double game of its last visit and Islamabad. (translated from Urdu)

 

A spokesman for the banned group in Pakistan further said, "I urge the US to support the TTP for the rights of the oppressed people, rather than tyrannical Pakistan." Last year, the United Nations warned that terrorist organizations – Islamic State (ISIS) and al Qaeda – posed a major threat to much of Africa.

According to the UN report, al Qaeda is present in at least 15 Afghan provinces and operates "under Taliban protection from Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroj provinces". In a CNN interview, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that the group had committed "not to allow any person or group or entity to use Afghanistan... against the US, its allies and other countries" and Said that terrorists would have "no place" in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

 

There are also concerns that ISIS has a solid foothold in Afghanistan, with one member state reporting that it currently has between 500 and 1,500 fighters. The Imran Khan government has long been urging the Taliban to act against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or deny it a place to operate outside Afghan soil. Even Islamabad was negotiating with TTP through Afghan Taliban. Islamabad, however, said that those talks broke down due to the TTP's tough demands in recent days.