70 Percent Of TTP Fighters Are Afghans, Says Pak Army Chief

Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, has warned the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that no threat to Pakistan’s security and sovereignty will be tolerated, claiming that about 70 percent of the group’s fighters are Afghans.

Munir described the TTP as a direct challenge to the Pakistani state and said restoring the writ of the government is the exclusive responsibility of the state. He stressed that the declaration of jihad lies solely with the government, not with individuals or armed groups.

He also renewed a warning to the Afghan Taliban, saying they must choose between Pakistan and the TTP.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban to prevent militants from using Afghan territory to carry out attacks inside Pakistan. While the Taliban deny the presence of Pakistani Taliban fighters on Afghan soil, international reports have documented that the group operates from within Afghanistan.

Earlier, Afghanistan International reported, citing documents it obtained, that a number of Afghan Taliban fighters had joined a faction of the Pakistani Taliban led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan.

In addition, findings published by Afghanistan International’s investigative unit in November said most senior TTP commanders including Noor Wali Mehsud, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Azmatullah Mehsud, Akhtar Mohammad Khalil and Mufti Sadiq Noor Dawar frequently travel between Kabul, the provinces of Kunar, Khost, Paktia and Paktika, and Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Munir also addressed military preparedness, saying Pakistan faces multidimensional threats along both its eastern and western borders, requiring the modernisation of defensive capabilities. He said the Pakistan Army and law enforcement agencies are fully prepared to counter both conventional and unconventional threats.

The army chief made the remarks at a National Ulema Conference in Islamabad on December 10. Details of the speech were published by Pakistani media on Sunday, December 21.