UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has claimed that 6,000 to 6,500 terrorists of Pakistani origin are still operating in Afghanistan and use their bases to attack targets inside Pakistan.

A new report prepared for the UN Security Council and released to the media on Friday afternoon covers global terrorist activities in 2019-20.

It notes that while the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) continues to be the primary group with a focus on Pakistan, its members are also active in various terrorist outfits.

“The total number of Pakistani foreign terrorist fighters in Afghanistan, posing a threat to both countries, is estimated at between 6,000 and 6,500, most of them with the TTP,” the report adds.

It describes the TTP as “a large terrorist group present in Afghanistan, led by Amir Noor Wali Mehsud and supported by his deputy Qari Amjad and TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani”.

The report notes that the TTP has claimed responsibility for various high-profile attacks in Pakistan and facilitated similar attacks by terrorist outfits like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Laskhar-i-Islam.

According to the report, many former TTP members have already joined the militant Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) and UN “member states expect that the group and its various splinter groups will align themselves with ISIL-K”.

“ISIL-K is seeking to pursue ‘a global agenda’ by implementing the ISIL core’s leadership approach, which considers Afghan territory a base for spreading terrorist influence across the wider region,” the report adds.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2020