A US State Department report has warned that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) aims to push the government of Pakistan out of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and establish Sharia by waging a terrorist campaign against the military and state, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported.
According to the 2021 Country Reports on Terrorism, the TTP uses the tribal belt along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to train and deploy its operatives.
As per the US State Department report, TTP draws ideological guidance from Al Qaeda, while elements of AQ rely in part on TTP for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
“This arrangement has given TTP access to both AQ’s global terrorist network and its members’ operational expertise.” According to the report, Pakistan “experienced significant terrorist activity in recent years”.
