Afghanistan International Pashto has reported from various sources that the Taliban, under pressure from Pakistan, has detained 25 members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) within Afghanistan.
These sources indicate that the Taliban has been urging Pakistani Taliban leaders to cease their attacks in Pakistan.
Confirmations of these arrests, including some key Pakistani Taliban leaders, have come from both Afghan Taliban insiders and members of the Pakistani Taliban. The apprehensions have occurred in Kabul, Nangarhar, and Kunar recently.
The individuals detained are on Pakistan's most-wanted list, implicated in an assault on a Punjab Air Force training centre, a claim made by Pakistan. Tehreek Jihad Pakistan, an armed faction, took responsibility for this attack.
Afghanistan International Pashto sources revealed the capture of Azhar, Musa, Zishan, and Toor Mullah, key Pakistani Taliban figures, by the Afghan Taliban on the Jalalabad-Kabul highway. Local sources in Kunar also reported the Taliban's detention of five significant TTP leaders from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Malakand division three days prior.
A TTP leader expressed to Afghanistan International their challenging situation, noting the commencement of their members' arrests. The Afghan Taliban's intelligence head, Abdul Haq Wathiq, reportedly asked TTP leader Mufti Noor Wali to halt the group's assaults in Pakistan. This also includes a call to stop suicide bombings, with Pakistan alleging Afghan Taliban involvement in such attacks and providing evidence to support this claim.
Sources suggest that due to Pakistan's intense pressure, the TTP was compelled to form a new group, Tehreek Jihad Pakistan, to continue its attacks in Pakistan under a different name. Pakistan asserts this new group is an offshoot of the TTP.
Pakistan has also urged the Afghan Taliban to extradite one of the TTP’s senior leaders Hafiz Gul Bahadur. Pakistani officials warn of retaliatory strikes against the TTP in Afghanistan if terrorist attacks increase in Pakistan.
The TTP, an armed entity, has cooperated with the Afghan Taliban against various forces in Afghanistan for two decades and pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban leader. Neither the Pakistani government nor the Afghan Taliban have officially addressed these developments.
Experts believe that targeting the Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan could lead to their opposition to the Afghan Taliban, complicating control efforts. They suggest the Afghan Taliban's efforts to arrest TTP militants are motivated by a desire to avoid conflict in Pakistan and prevent Pakistan from bolstering ISIS in Afghanistan.
