Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says a new United Nations sanctions monitoring report supports Islamabad’s long-standing concerns about the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.
In its latest assessment, the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said the Taliban supports the activities of militant groups including al-Qaida, the TTP and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement inside Afghanistan.
In the six-month report on global terrorist threats, the monitoring team said al-Qaida continues to benefit from Taliban support and operates in Afghanistan as a provider of training and advisory services, particularly to the TTP.
According to the report, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent remains active in south-eastern Afghanistan. It said the group’s leader, Osama Mahmoud, and his deputy, Yahya Ghauri, are based in Kabul, while its media team operates from Herat.
Speaking at a weekly briefing on Thursday, February 12, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the report shows the TTP receives “preferential treatment” under Taliban rule and could pose a threat beyond the region.
Andrabi said Islamabad would raise the issue with members of the UN Security Council, adding that the findings reinforce concerns Pakistan has repeatedly shared with the international community.
Pakistan has long argued that militant activity in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan threatens regional stability. The Taliban, however, have consistently rejected such allegations as baseless.
