Terrorism: TTP planning string of attacks on security forces, public places

TTP have dispatched nine operatives, including two suicide bombers to Pakistan via the Torkham border.

LAHORE : Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) elements based in Afghanistan and Mohmand Agency are planning a string of attacks on security forces and public gatherings across Pakistan, The Express Tribune has learnt.

According to an intelligence report forwarded to police and other law enforcement agencies, TTP elements in Afghanistan’s Kunar province have dispatched nine operatives, including two suicide bombers, to Pakistan via the Torkham border to carry out attacks against public gatherings, particularly those organised by the Shia community. They further reveal the group’s leadership in Mohmand Agency has dispatched two other suicide bombers.

The report suggests TTP intends to target security installations and personnel, diplomatic missions and enclaves, government offices and luxury hotels. They mention Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujrat, Peshawar, Nowshera and Gilgit-Baltistan as likely areas where such attacks may be carried out.

The intelligence reports further mention that TTP has cultivated a nexus with criminal elements based in Punjab for kidnapping foreign citizens and those part of influential families in the region.