Captured militant exposes TTP-RAW-BLA nexus

Langove says TTP commander confessed to attacks in K-P

QUETTA:

The security forces arrested a senior commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the information gleaned from him established a link between the TTP, India’s infamous spy agency and outlawed Baloch militant outfits, the Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove said on Wednesday.

The arrest of Nasrullah, also known as Maulvi Mansoor, in a “very complicated and difficult operation” by the intelligence and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) was seen as a “major and significant breakthrough” in the country’s fight against terrorism, according to a Radio Pakistan report.

Langove told a press conference in Quetta that during interrogation Nasrullah had confessed to executing sabotage operations in South Waziristan, North Waziristan, and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He also said that many missing individuals were in Afghanistan.

A video statement of Nasrullah was also screened during the press conference. In the video, he recounted his escape to Afghanistan during the Zarb-e-Azb operation. He said that many missing individuals were in Afghanistan and that anti-Pakistan terrorists had the liberty to operate there.

Nasrullah stated that the TTP leadership, including Maulvi Noor Wali Mehsud, was currently residing in Afghanistan. He also identified Bashir Zeb, the commander of the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed Brigade, as being present in Afghanistan.

According to Nasrullah, the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) financed the TTP, adding that meetings between the TTP and BLA leaders had taken place at the Indian embassy in Kabul under the complete patronage of Afghan Taliban.

The commander alleged that the interim Afghan government supported prominent figures like Noor Wali and Bashir Zeb, enabling them to move freely within the country. He criticised Noor Wali for encouraging others to carry out suicide attacks, while protecting his own children.

The Radio Pakistan report said that Nasrullah believed that BLA had betrayed them. Expressing remorse for his past actions, he sought forgiveness not only from Allah, but also from all those people, who were harmed by his so-called Jihad.

According to the report, Nasrullah disclosed that it was the objective of RAW to sustain the BLA-TTP nexus, build terrorist hideouts in Khuzdar area of Balochistan, sabotage the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the friendship between the two countries.

Nasrullah said that the TTP and BLA nexus was aimed at building a narrative of missing persons by carrying out activities for kidnapping for ransom. He stated that many “missing people” were hiding in Afghanistan. (WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)