Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to urge the Taliban to sever its connections with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the country’s envoy said.
“I am confident that this council will join Pakistan in demanding that the Afghan government terminates its relationship with the TTP,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, stated during a UNSC meeting on Wednesday.
His comments follow a report that Pakistan’s fatalities from terrorist attacks and counterterror operations hit a six-year high, with nearly 1,000 deaths reported by The News in January, citing the Centre for Research and Security Studies’ Annual Security Report.
Recent months have seen a marked increase in assaults on Pakistani security forces, with militants employing sophisticated weaponry and tactics.
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban to prevent its territory from being used by the TTP and other militant organizations to launch attacks against Pakistan.
The Pakistani envoy also requested the UN to press the Taliban to stop cross-border assaults and the infiltration of TTP and other terrorists into Pakistani territory.
He called for an investigation into the financing and procurement of modern weapons by the militant group.
“The UN should investigate how the TTP has acquired advanced military equipment and weaponry and identify the sources of the group’s financing, which supports its 50,000 fighters and their dependents and its terrorist operations. Left unchecked, the TTP, supported by Al-Qaeda and some state-sponsored groups, could soon pose a global terrorist threat,” he added.
“Akram noted that the interim Afghan government’s inability to control the TTP and other terrorist groups undermines its claim of full control over its territory, a claim it makes in its efforts to gain international recognition.”
Taliban has denied ties with the TTP and has said terrorist groups have been suppressed in Afghanistan.
