Taliban, TTP ideologically same: Sindh home minister

ISLAMABAD: Sindh interim Home Minister Brigadier (retd) Haaris Nawaz Sunday said the Afghan Taliban and TTP were ideologically the same.

Talking to a website, he said the US deliberately left its weapons and ammunition behind before quitting Afghanistan, which had been taken away by terrorist groups like the TTP, BLA, BLF and Daesh. Now these weapons were being used against Pakistan.

He said terrorists from the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were involved in most terror activities countrywide.

To a query about escalation in terror attacks in Pakistan, Nawaz said such groups didn’t want to see Pakistan economically stable while India and some other countries were actively aiding them.

“They want to block work on CPEC at all costs since they fully understand that if this project gets completed, it will prove a great leap for Pakistan’s economy.

“Currently, it takes China 90 days to reach the Middle East and other markets through the sea. Once CPEC is completed, it will take the Chinese consignments eight days to reach there through Kashghar. Evidentially, it will change the destiny of the whole region,” he said.

Commenting on the Taliban-TTP relationship, he reminded that the latter had offered support to the Taliban to drive the US out of Afghanistan and now the Taliban were providing them shelter.

“We are asking the Afghan Taliban to stop the use of their soil against Pakistan. Despite their assurances, they aren’t living up to their commitment,” he said.

Talking about the actions against terrorists in different parts of the country, the Sindh home minister said, “Our forces are ‘actively undertaking actions’ against the terrorists but cooperation by the people is of pivotal significance. The masses should cooperate with the forces and intimate the agencies about the presence of terrorists in their area.”

He was of the view that terrorism had not been uprooted fully in different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the website reported that the outlawed TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani had accepted responsibility for the recent terror attacks in Pakistan and claimed that they had carried out 106 attacks in different parts of the country out of which 100 were carried out in various districts of KP and four in Balochistan.