TTP Will Still Be Threat to Regional Stability, Even After Relocation: Journalist

A senior Pakistani journalist who has spent nearly two decades covering the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan has said that the Taliban** is trying to resolve the TTP issue promptly.

Syed Fakhar Kakakhel, a Peshawar-based senior journalist, who specializes in covering politics and militancy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, made his remarks amid reports that Afghanistan's Taliban rulers were contemplating moving TTP fighters from the frontier regions bordering Pakistan following intense pressure from Islamabad.

When asked if the initiative could pose a security risk for the region, the Pakistani author agreed.

While Taliban authorities have remained tight-lipped about the issue and chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has even dismissing such reports, Kakakhel noted that there was some truth to the news.

However, some TTP families moved to other parts of Afghanistan on their own much before the current statement.

Another issue is that TTP elements are active inside Pakistan. They have support and funding from their leadership in Afghanistan but their operational fighters are inside Pakistan.
That poses a major threat to Pakistan from within. So now there are reports that the government and TTP are rethinking the dialogue initiative that was halted during the previous government.

Similarly, Kakakhel was asked to share his views on Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif's statement wherein he promoted dialogue between political parties, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy to break the current logjam in the South Asian country.

Asif's remarks come at a precarious time for Islamabad, given that Pakistan is in the midst of an economic, and political crisis.

The Shehbaz Sharif-led government has cracked down on the opposition spearheaded by former premier Imran Khan following violent protests that shook Pakistan after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief's arrest last month.

The Islamic nation's economy has borne the brunt of this political instability, and Pakistan only has enough reserves to sustain imports for a month. Additionally, the ruling coalition has unsuccessfully tried to secure a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is now looking toward China for fresh capital to avert a sovereign default.

In this context, the Pakistani defense minister has urged opposition groups to forget their differences and come together in the nation's interest.

Kakakhel mentioned that it was an old demand of intellectuals and progressive national political forces to initiate dialogue to adopt a new social contract. There were also demands of forming a national "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" to address the emerging national political crises.

* a terrorist organization banned in Russia and India