Islamabad:
Up to 18 US intelligence agencies said Pakistan from Tehreek-E-Taliban Prohibited (TTP) is a “potential future threat” for Washington.
A 30-page report prepared by agencies and published on Tuesday said in South Asia on Tuesday, Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operations were concentrated exclusively on the targeting of the government of Pakistan, probably to avoid greater pressure against terrorism.
“However, TTP capacities, historical links with Al-Qaeda and the prior support for operations targeting the United States are concerned about the potential future threat,” notes the report.
Pakistan has long warned the international community, including the United States, over the global threat posed by the TTP. However, regional and international actors have largely considered the group as a threat confined to Pakistan.
The latest assessment of the American intelligence community seems to have changed the approach.
Official sources told L’Express PK Press Club that it was a welcome development that the United States had achieved the danger posed by the TTP.
Recognition of the TTP as a threat to the United States could strengthen Pakistan’s fight against terrorist outfits. It can rekindle cooperation between Pakistan and the United States while increasing pressure on Afghanistan.
Pakistan has constantly argued that TTP operates from Afghan soil. This evaluation was also corroborated by the United Nations surveillance team, which described the TTP as the largest terrorist outfit in Afghanistan under the domination of the Taliban.
Meanwhile, the American intelligence agencies report has also qualified the Islamic State a major global threat. “The most aggressive branches of the Islamic State, notably Isis-Khorasan (Isis-K), and its entrepreneurial plotters will continue to seek to attack the West, including the United States, via online awareness and propaganda aimed at directing, allowing or inspiring attacks, and could exploit vulnerable travel roads.”
“Isis-K in South Asia is the branch of the group most capable of carrying out external terrorist attacks and maintains the intention to carry out attacks in South and Central Asia, and in the world, although its capacities vary,” he adds.
“The attacks of mass victims of the Islamic State in Russia and Iran in 2024, as well as arrests of Isis-K supporters in Europe and the United States, highlight the group’s growing capacity beyond South Asia and the ability to inspire individuals to carry out attacks abroad,” said.
Pakistan recently captured Muhammad Sharifullah, one of the brains of the August 2021 Kabul airport attack. The suspect was given to the United States, which obtained a rare praise for Pakistan of US President Donald Trump.
