The report spotlights factors (such as the impact of the ongoing Afghan peace process) that could help the TTP reassert itself as a major threat to the Pakistani state, and presents recommendations for ways the Pakistani state, with cooperation and support from the United States, might stifle its resurgence: expanding efforts to counter violent extremism; addressing the TTP’s links to other milita. [...] The Rise and Decline of the TTP, 2007–18 The emergence of the TTP is closely associated with the fall of the Afghan Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent development of an insurgency. [...] AFGHAN TALIBAN Negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the United States led to the February 2020 “Doha Agreement” on conditions for a US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and paved the way for the ongoing political negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul. [...] Despite the well-known ideological and operational linkages between the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban, a source of friction and a stark distinction between the two is that the former do not attack the Pakistani state. [...] For the TTP, remaining aligned with the Afghan Taliban allows it to capitalize on the widespread support among Pashtun tribesmen for the Afghan jihad, which in turn boosts the TTP’s own resources and legitimacy.70 In addition, a working relationship with the Afghan Taliban has allowed the TTP to escape US drone strikes and military operations in Pakistan’s tribal regions by fleeing to Afghanistan.
- Pages
- 28
- Published in
- United States of America
