Pakistan to seek Afghan Taliban chief Akhundzada’s help against TTP. In order to maintain control over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pakistan has decided to seek the help of Afghan Taliban chief Haibuttallah Akhundzada, according to government sources familiar with the Apex Committee meeting in Peshawar on Friday.
The meeting’s civil and military leadership decided to raise the issue with the interim Afghan government at the highest level and make it plain that Pakistan would no longer tolerate cross-border terrorism. They held the banned TTP accountable for the bloodshed in Peshawar this week.
Although the TTP has denied any role in the suicide bombing that occurred at a mosque in the Peshawar Police Lines on Monday, a briefing provided to the Apex Committee implied that the banned organisation was in fact the mastermind of the attack.
The participants of the meeting included Army chief Gen Syed Asim Munir, DG ISI Lt-Gen Nadeem Anjum, Peshawar Corps Commander, DGMO and other military officials as well as senior cabinet members, chief ministers of the four provinces, Gilgilt-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Despite being invited to the crucial meeting, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chose not to attend. The marathon discussion covered a variety of topics, including how the suicide bomber got into the high-security area, who was responsible, and how the government would handle the TTP’s resurgent threat.
Pakistan to seek Afghan Taliban chief Akhundzada’s help against TTP. The meeting was informed that the TTP carried out the attack but because of fear of backlash from the Afghan Taliban, it did not own it, publicly. Insiders told that Pakistan would seek the intervention of Mullah Haibuttallah Akhundzada to control the banned outfit.
The meeting noted that despite the resurgence of terrorism in the country, terrorists did not hold any specific area, therefore there was no need for full-scale military operations. Instead, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, the intelligence-based operations (IBOs) would continue.
The interior minister, who was present at the Apex Committee meeting, said that it was conceivable that the perpetrators of the Peshawar attack were in Afghanistan and that the government will raise up the issue with the neighbouring country.
The Afghan Taliban’s inability to combat the TTP was brought up in the discussion. Pakistan, however, was not persuaded and made the decision to insist to the highest level of the Afghan government that the TTP safe havens must be destroyed.
The meeting also discussed the previous PTI government to negotiate with the TTP and allow its members to resettle in the country. It was acknowledged that the decision was taken in haste. “It was miscalculation and misjudgement,” the meeting was told.
Army Chief Gen Asim also addressed the Apex Committee meeting. He said that some participants found him “very clear-headed” on security issues. He added that the Army would act according to the direction of the civilian government in the fight against terrorism.
Meanwhile, a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that the representatives of the sensitive institutions briefed the meeting on the overall security situation in the country and the operations against terrorists.
