Page 10 - The Indian EYE 022423

OPINION FEBRUARY 24, 2023 | The Indian Eye 10

TTP’s Political Violence

in Pakistan and Jihad

Having ‘Pakistan’ in its name does not reflect the true character of the group;

the group is overwhelmingly Pashtun in composition. Its position and ideology are largely limited to

the Pashtun speaking areas of Pakistan, KP and some areas of Balochistan in the east

NAZIR AHMAD MIR After losing much of its support in the wake of Pakistan’s military operations, the TTP gained momentum when the Afghan Taliban
took control in Kabul in August 2021 (File photo)
akistan witnessed a gruesome
suicide bombing in a mosque er, does not hold much water, given Shi’ites and the Ahmadis have come which points to its growing sectarian
Pon 30 January 2023 in Pesha- the TTP’s organizational structure, under attack consistently from this outlook. In fact, the current chief of
war, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). ideology and its past attacks. group. In March 2015, an attack on TTP, Wali Mehsud, after succeeding
Over 100 people were killed and a Shi’ite imambargah in Peshawar Mullah Fazlullah in 2018, sought
more than 220 wounded. Omar Mu- TTP’S structure and support killed 21 and wounded about 200. to expand the outfit’s reach and
karam Khorasani, the head of the The TTP’s past pronounce- This attack was claimed by a splin- welcomed the merger of rabid an-
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter ments do not indicate any reverence ter group of the TTP. Many such ti-Shi’ite groups such as Lashkar-e-
group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Paki- for all masjids or public places. The attacks have been carried on Shi’ite Jhangvi (LeJ)/Sipah-e-Sahaba-e-Pa-
stan (TTP) claimed responsibility ‘masjid’ in Peshawar is located in mosques and madrasas, which have kistan (SSP) – which now go by the
for the attack. the civil lines, a security area, repre- been claimed by various TTP splin- name of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat
The TTP denied the claim senting the Pakistani state. The TTP ter groups. The TTP has neither (ASWJ), with the terror conglomer-
and insisted that it does not attack terms the Pakistani state un-Islamic condemned nor chosen to distance ate in 2020.
“mosques, madrasas (religious and hence sees it as a legitimate en- itself from such attacks. Having ‘Pakistan’ in its name
schools), funeral places, and other emy. Anti-Shia elements have been does not reflect the true character
such places.” The statement, howev- Moreover, mosques of the added to the TTP in recent years Continued on next page... >>

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