Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Urges America Not To Support Pakistan Against TTP, Says Its Sole Target Is Pakistan

Taking a page out of the Afghan Taliban playbook, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (the Movement of Pakistani Taliban, TTP) has urged America not to support Pakistan against the TTP, saying the TTP’s sole target is Pakistan, and it has nothing to do with other countries, according to a TTP statement released in Urdu, English, and Pashtu. The Afghan Taliban used this line of argument during the Doha talks with the U.S. in 2020, which paved the way for the Afghan Taliban to seize power on August 15, 2021.

“For the last few days, the United Nations including Pakistan, and the Pakistani media have been accusing the TTP of having links with the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda, which means that they have failed to prove that the TTP is a global terrorist” organization, TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said in a February 12 statement on the TTP website.

“The TTP has repeatedly stated, formally and informally, that our target is only Pakistan, we have nothing to do with other countries. It is not known why the whole world is speaking Pakistan’s dialect despite this clear position,” he said. Muhammad Khurasani said that Pakistan’s claim that “the TTP has run out of land and has repeatedly offered to negotiate is baseless.”

He added: “The whole world is well aware of the fact that Pakistan is now deprived of the money received in the name of Afghanistan due to which Pakistan cannot bear the cost of innocent tribes, Baluchi, and other wars inside the country. Pakistan is on the verge of collapse due to unemployment and corruption; so in the light of this background, Pakistan has been offering to negotiate with the TTP on a daily basis and accusing the TTP, thereby misleading people.”

“The United States is saying that ‘we will take action against TTP together with Pakistan.’ For us, these are tactics to pressure us that will have no effect on us. It seems that the U.S. has forgotten its previous trip [i.e., engagement] with Pakistan and Pakistan’s duplicity is out of their minds,” the TTP spokesman said.

“We want to make it clear to the United States: Focus on the [American] economy and the declining graph of your status; do not try to transfer your funds to Pakistan in the name of [fighting] TTP…” Muhammad Khurasani said.

He added: “Instead of cooperating with the murderers [Pakistan army] of innocent tribes in this oppression… support the TTP that is ‘fighting for the defense of the tribal people’ and human rights…”

The TTP spokesman added: “We, the TTP, are not afraid of any threat and are satisfied with our destiny.”