Tehreek-e-Taliban Seeking Merger with Al-Qaeda, Form Union of All South Asian Terror Groups: Report

A report submitted to the UN Security Council claimed that the terrorist group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) could be seeking a merger with terrorist group Al Qaeda to form an umbrella organisation which will shelter all terrorist groups operating in South Asia.

The report said that some UN member-states are concerned that TTP will provide “an umbrella under which a range of foreign groups operate, or even coalesce, avoiding attempts at control by the Taliban”.

“One member state noted the possibility of Al Qaeda and TTP merging. It assessed Al Qaeda to be providing guidance to TTP for conducting increased attacks within Pakistan,” the report said, according to news agencies ANI and the Dawn.

The UN committee which monitors the terror activities across the globe also endorsed Pakistan’s complaint that the TTP, which is banned in the country, wields larger influence following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

“One member state noted the possibility of Al Qaeda and TTP merging. It assessed Al Qaeda to be providing guidance to TTP for conducting increased attacks within Pakistan,” the report said.

The report points out, much to Pakistan’s concern, that there are training camps run by various terrorist groups in Afghanistan’s Kunar province and TTP terrorists are using those camps. “Since the reunification with several splinter groups, and emboldened by the Taliban take over in Afghanistan, TTP has aspired to re-establish control of territory in Pakistan,” the report further said, taking cognisance of Pakistan’s complaints.

“TTP capability is assessed as not matching its ambition, given that it does not control territory and lacks popular appeal in the tribal areas,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, trashed the report, calling it ‘false’.

“The Security Council’s report that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has relations with the Al-Qaeda organisation is not true. The Al-Qaeda organisation has no presence in Afghanistan, and the reports are false. The Islamic Emirate does not allow anyone to use Afghanistan’s soil against the security of any other country,” Mujahid said in a tweet.

The report was submitted to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on July 25. The report also claims that there are other terror groups using the TTP as cover to operate within Afghanistan.

The report also points out that the distinction between Al-Qaeda, Islamic State’s Khorasan wing, the TTP and other terrorist groups are “blurred” because fighters tend to “identify with more than one group” and there is also “a tendency for people to gravitate towards the dominant or ascending power”.

It should be noted that a separate report by the UN sanctions monitoring team said that “link between the Taliban and both Al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains strong and symbiotic. A range of terrorist groups have greater freedom of manoeuvre under the Taliban de facto authorities”.

The report said that there are approximately 20 terrorist groups operating in the country and they are intent of spreading their influence across regions with the target to prop up theocratic quasi-state entities, the Dawn said.

There are at least 400 Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. There are at least 30 to 60 core Al Qaeda members. In the Indian subcontinent, there are at approximately 200 fighters.