According to a UN report more than 6,000 insurgents are hiding in Afghanistan. Most of whom belong to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban group responsible for attacking Pakistani military and civilian targets. A large number of these terrorists belong to the area consisting of the Pak Afghan border and Pakistani tribal area.
Moreover, according to the report these outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) members have successfully established ties with gruesome terrorist group Islamic state’s Khurasan branch. The Islamic State has been defeated in its origin Syria and Iraq due to its powerful media presence and work. Additionally, it has strong ideological support all over the world.
Islamic state Khurasan and TTP mixed
The report said IS in Afghanistan, known as IS in Khorasan province, has been hit hard by Afghan security forces as well as U.S. and NATO forces, and even on occasion by the Afghan Taliban. The report was prepared by the U.N. analytical and sanctions monitoring team, which tracks terrorist groups around the world.
Furthermore, according to this report IS in Afghanistan has 2200 members. The report also said the monitoring team had received information that two senior Islamic State commanders, Abu Qutaibah and Abu Hajar al-Iraqi, had recently arrived in Afghanistan from the Middle East.
A Safe haven for anti-Pakistan groups
A big worry for Pakistan is the presence in Afghanistan of militants. Particularly linked to the TTP or Jamaat-ul-Ahrar or Lashkar-e-Islam, as well as those with the Baluchistan Liberation Army. Which has taken responsibility for high-profile attacks this month in the southern Sindh province as well as in southwestern Baluchistan. Several Pakistan military personnel were killed this month in southwestern Baluchistan province in a battle with insurgents.
TTP is the main group that has claimed most of the violent attacks on Pakistani Soil. One of its most infamous attacks was on a school where 140 children were killed. The majority of those were teenage students of different grades. Pakistan launched a major anti-terrorism campaign after that which involved a military operation in its tribal areas and the formation of a National action plan.
