Foreign support: Afghan Taliban bankrolling our fighters says TTP
Afghan Taliban poviding sanctuary to TTP in their own country.
File photo of Taliban fighters. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The Afghan Taliban are bankrolling their counterparts in Pakistan and providing sanctuary for them in their own country, The Associated Press reported on Sunday.
The disclosure, made by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) spokesman Shahidullah Shahid is meaningful because Pakistan has long been accused of pursuing a policy of differentiating between the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban as so-called “good” and “bad” militants.
Pakistan has waged war against TTP, but the spokesman’s comments illustrate the dangerous nexus between the two groups. “The Afghan Taliban are our jihadi brothers,” said Shahid in an interview. “In the beginning, we were helping them, but now they are supporting us financially.”
The Afghan Taliban are also providing sanctuary for a prominent TTP commander, Mullah Fazlullah, in Kunar province, said Shahid.
“Yes, we are terrorists, but we are against the system of the infidels,” said Shahid.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2013.