On Sunday, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists seized control of a
counterterrorism center in northwestern Pakistan and held hostages while
demanding safe passage into neighboring Afghanistan. Following failed
negotiations, Pakistani armed forces forcibly regained control of the
counterterrorism center on Tuesday, killing 25 of the 35 attackers.





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TTP Seizure Of Pakistani Counterterrorism Center Underscores Instability
Caused By Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan



(New York, N.Y.) — On Sunday, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists seized

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control of a counterterrorism center in northwestern Pakistan and held
hostages while demanding safe passage into neighboring Afghanistan. Following
failed negotiations, Pakistani armed forces forcibly regained control of the
counterterrorism center on Tuesday, killing 25 of the 35 attackers. One hostage
and two commandos were also killed,according to the Pakistani army
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.



To read the Counter Extremism Project (CEP)’s resource Tehrik-i-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP), please click here
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“The attack is indicative of the steady deterioration of regional security
since the Taliban takeover of power in Afghanistan last year,” said CEP Senior
Director and former Coordinator of the U.N. Security Council’s ISIL (Da’esh),
al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring TeamDr. Hans-Jakob Schindler
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close connections between the TTP and the Taliban, it is not surprising that
the hostage-takers demanded safe passage to Afghanistan, and they were clearly
operating under the assumption that Afghanistan under the Taliban regime is a
safe haven, just as it was in the 1990s. If a significant regional terror group
such as the TTP, which is closely connected to key powerbrokers in the Taliban
regime, does not put stock in Taliban assurances that they would not allow
Afghanistan to again become a new center of regional and global terrorism,
neither should the international community.”



The TTP is designated by United Nations Security Council as an al-Qaeda
affiliate and is closely aligned with the Haqqani Network in the Taliban
regime. Following the Taliban’s August 2021 takeover of Kabul, senior TTP
members were freed from Afghan prisons, leading to an increase in attacks in
neighboring Pakistan. In 2021 alone, the TTP claimed responsibility for more
than 100 attacks inside Pakistan. In June 2022, the interior minister of the
Taliban regime Sirajuddin Haqqani facilitated talks between Pakistani officials
and the TTP that led to a ceasefire agreement. However, the TTP walked away
from the deal at the end of November and has since encouraged its fighters to
launch attacks against Islamabad.



To read CEP resource Pakistan: Extremism and Terrorism, please click here
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