Is TTP being blamed for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar attacks?

The differences between terrorist outfit Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its breakaway faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), have become more apparent as the latter announced that it would step up attacks on Pakistani soil as well as its forces despite the former’s ‘undeclared ceasefire’.

There have been at least 27 terrorist attacks in Pakistan, mainly in its Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, especially in its restive southern region in the first month of 2024. However, none of these attacks has been claimed by the TTP.

In a 90:30- minute video clip shared by the JuA, Qari Mehmood Maddani of K-P’s Mohmand tribal district has declared that his organisation would spare nobody, who would stand against it.

Contrastingly, the impact of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s recent visit to Afghanistan is evident in Pakistan.

Despite 26 attacks in K-P and one in Punjab, the TTP has not claimed responsibility for any of them.

An ‘unannounced ceasefire’ until the next general elections in Pakistan has been verbally announced by both sides with intervention from the Afghan government, particularly the Haqqani group, according to sources at The Express Tribune’s Peshawar office.

On the flip side, the sources confirmed that because of the formation of government bodies at divisional levels across Punjab, K-P, and Sindh, the media was occupied with these affairs.

Consequently, the media was unable to properly report the ‘unannounced ceasefire’ because of the unavailability of information or ground reports. Around 26 militant attacks have been reported in K-P and one in Taunsa city of Punjab.

TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani has neither provided any statements to the media on these attacks, nor has the outfit taken responsibility for them.

However, social media accounts linked to the TTP have claimed responsibility for these attacks.

A security analyst noted that terrorist attacks, including five in Peshawar and numerous others in various tribal districts, had increased.

Maulana Atta Ul Haq Darvish, a member of the JUI-F delegation that visited Afghanistan, confirmed that the Haqqani group as well as the Kandhari Taliban had agreed not to allow the use of their soil against Pakistan and vice versa.