Islamabad’s Rhetoric Makes Restraining TTP Harder, Says Taliban Spokesperson
A Taliban spokesman warned Pakistan on Friday that threatening rhetoric from its leaders will make it harder to restrain the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A Taliban spokesman warned Pakistan on Friday that threatening rhetoric from its leaders will make it harder to restrain the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, accused Pakistani officials of using “warmongering” language and damaging relations between the two neighbours. “Before we speak in the media, spoil the atmosphere or take military action, a reasonable solution must be found,” he told a Pakistani think tank.
The remarks came a week after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned that Islamabad would sever ties with the Afghan Taliban if it continued to back or host the TTP. He strsssed that the Afghan Taliban must choose between Islamabad and the TTP.
Mujahid said the Taliban are dissatisfied with the current situation, blaming both negative media campaigns and Pakistani threats. He insisted that Pakistan’s security problems are domestic matters. If Islamabad has intelligence that an attack is being planned from Afghan soil, he added, it should share it so the Taliban can act.
Pakistan’s security has sharply deteriorated since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. TTP attacks have surged, targeting security forces, infrastructure and projects such as the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring TTP leaders and allowing deadly attacks to be planned across the border, charges the Taliban deny.
