TTP leader operating from Afghanistan with special permissions, report suggests

KABUL -- The leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) resides in Afghanistan from where he orchestrates terrorist attacks against Pakistan, a local Pakistani television channel reported.

According to Samaa TV, TTP leader Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud has obtained an official Afghan ID card and permission to own a vehicle and weapons in Afghanistan.

He reportedly drives a 2005 Toyota Fielder and has permission from Afghan authorities to carry Kalashnikov rifles.

Another TTP leader, Muzahim Mehsud, also has gained an Afghan ID card, resides in Afghanistan and owns a vehicle there, Samaa TV reported September 1.

Muzahim carries one M4 rifle, one M16 rifle and two Kalashnikovs.

The gun permits are valid for Kabul and the southeastern provinces.

In July, Samaa TV reported a leaked call allegedly involving Noor Wali Mehsud, in which he gives explicit instructions for attacks on hospitals, government properties and schools and urges the destruction of houses belonging to police and military personnel.

Despite a surge in TTP attacks in Pakistan in recent months, Afghan officials have consistently denied the group's presence in Afghanistan.

A United Nations (UN) report released in early July warned of the growing relationship between TTP and al-Qaeda, which could potentially elevate the Pakistani terrorist group to a threat beyond the region.

In a shootout August 14 in South Waziristan, near the Afghan-Pakistani border, four Pakistani soldiers and six TTP members were killed.

Joint efforts

Pakistan and Afghanistan should strengthen border security instead of exchanging blame about harboring terrorist groups, said Sami Yousafzai, an Afghan journalist and political analyst based in Islamabad.

"There is no doubt that members of TTP are active in Afghanistan, but the only solution is joint efforts and stricter border controls," he told Salaam Times.

Harboring terrorist groups like TTP in Afghanistan is detrimental to Afghans, said Ali Allah Mohammadi, an Afghan political analyst in Türkiye.

"The scope of activities of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, TTP, the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' (ISIS), Jamaat Ansarullah, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and other groups has significantly increased," he said.

"The presence of these terrorist groups in Afghanistan represents a serious threat to the region and the world."

Terrorist groups on Afghan soil can attack other countries as well as harm ordinary Afghans, said Kabul resident Abdul Sattar Qadiri, 46.

This violence can be prevented if Afghan authorities, in cooperation with the international community, work to contain them, he said.

"Afghans don't want this country to turn once again into a safe haven for regional and global terrorists," Qadiri said.