USIP report fears Pakistan’s deteriorating economy will limit its ability to act against terrorists…reports Asian Lite News
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Pakistan-based Kashmir-centric Hizbul Mujahideen and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remain a global terrorist organisation and there is no reason for the change in their status.
This was was notified in the federal register following a review of the designations as foreign terrorist organisations of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, Hizbul Mujahideen, and the Army of Islam (and Other Aliases), PTI reported.
“Based on a review” of the Administrative Records and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, Blinken said he conclude that the circumstances that were the bases for the designations of these organisations as Foreign Terrorist Organisations have not changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation of the designations, it was reported.
“The national security of the United States does not warrant a revocation of the designations. Therefore, I hereby determine that the designations of the aforementioned organisations as Foreign Terrorist Organisations,” Blinken said.
Amid Pakistan’s economic crisis and the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has re-emerged as a potential threat to Islamabad, Dawn reported citing the US Institute of Peace’s (USIPs) report.
“Amid Pakistan’s economic crisis and the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, the TTP has re-emerged as an increasingly potent threat,” warned the report, released in Washington on Tuesday by the US Institute of Peace (USIP). USIP argued that the Taliban’s response to being confronted about their support for the TTP has been to level counter-accusations.
USIP report fears Pakistan’s deteriorating economy will limit its ability to act against terrorists
Such rhetorical signals are matched by anecdotal reports from UN officials and other observers — quoted in the USIP report — of TTP individuals moving freely and conducting business in Afghan cities.
The TTP’s escalating campaign of violence “is a function of its growing political and material strength — reflected in its political cohesion, expanding cadre of trained fighters, suicide bombers, weapons, and equipment,” the report added.
“The Afghan Taliban remain very supportive of the TTP and are providing the group with a permissive safe haven,” the report claimed. It noted that the TTP also had a lot of popular support in Afghanistan, “where both Taliban and non-Taliban constituencies get behind the TTP due to a fervent dislike for Pakistan”.
