A source told Afghanistan International on Tuesday that the Taliban has arrested a number of the group's commanders and forces who were seeking to recruit for the Pakistani Taliban in the southeastern provinces.
According to the source, some Taliban leaders are concerned about the Pakistani Taliban's growing fighting power.
According to a source close to the Taliban, the group's intelligence agency used biometrics to identify and arrest these militants and commanders in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces.
A well-known Taliban commander named Sangari is among those arrested in Mandozayi district of Khost province.
Sangari is said to have played a prominent role in recruiting Taliban fighters into the ranks of the TTP and other anti-Pakistan militant groups.
Recently, many "disgruntled" Taliban fighters have joined the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group through the mediation of Mufti Noor Wali.
Some Taliban fighters in Khost, Logar, Ghazni, Maidan Wardak, Paktia and Paktika provinces have joined the TTP or Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and some have been killed.
The source added that the number of Pakistani Taliban has increased compared to before and the Afghan Taliban have resorted to identifying and arresting Afghan militants in the ranks of the TTP under pressure from the Pakistani government.
"Some Afghan Taliban leaders are also concerned about the TTP's growing fighting power, as every disgruntled Taliban goes to Mufti Noor Wali and is attracted to the TTP or Hafiz Gul Bahadur," the source said.
Earlier this year, Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah deployed the group's forces in Kandahar, Ghazni, Maidan Wardak provinces and in some border districts of Khost, Paktia and Paktika to monitor the activities of the Pakistani Taliban.
The source said that Mullah Hibatullah's plan to deploy Taliban forces on the borders did not help because the Pakistani Taliban has friends in the ranks of the Afghan Taliban in Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan.
On the contrary, "they [the Afghan Taliban] are cooperating with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other foreign fighters in crossing the border and participating in the clashes," the source added.
Analysts in Afghanistan and Pakistan believe that Islamabad's pressure on the Afghan Taliban to control the TTP has not yielded significant results, and this new move by the Taliban is not likely to convince Islamabad.
The source said that the Taliban government had hoped to see a change in Pakistan's military policy regarding negotiations with the Taliban after the end of the tenure of General Asim Munir, the chief of staff of the Pakistani army.
Munir earlier warned the Taliban that the whole of Afghanistan could be harmed to protect the security of Pakistani citizens.
