The Taliban-TTP Nexus And Pakistan's Rising Security Challenges

Abstract

Why has the militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) become a bigger threat to Pakistan since the Taliban's return to rule in Afghanistan? This article contends that the Taliban's determination to provide the TTP with sanctuary and support—including operational freedom and mobility, arms and ammunition, recruitment and military training, and financial and logistical assistance—has been the central factor behind the TTP's resurgence. The evidence demonstrates that the Taliban's unwillingness to disarm, demobilize, or evict the TTP from Afghanistan, even in the face of intensified pressure from Islamabad, has enhanced the TTP's material strength and resolve to overturn the Pakistani state. The group has therefore made uncompromising demands to establish an Islamic emirate or Sharia-compliant political order in Pakistan and reverse the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The analysis indicates that gains by the TTP, and the group's allegiance to the Afghan Taliban, could undermine Pakistan's territorial integrity.