Pakistani media have reported that Taliban are providing safe havens and paying 3 million afghanis ($43,000) a month to the family of Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
According to Pakistan Today, the money helps fund weapons purchases, logistical infrastructure and the planning of complex, multi-stage attacks carried out by the TTP.
The report says that over the past two years the TTP has established recruitment and training centers in Afghanistan’s Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost provinces. These facilities are said to provide ideological instruction, weapons training and logistical planning.
The report also alleged that some recruits are drawn from Taliban ranks and later cross into Pakistan to conduct suicide bombings and ambushes.
Taliban have previously denied providing shelter to TTP fighters inside Afghanistan, a claim Pakistani officials say contradicts evidence on the ground.
But a report by UN monitoring team says that TTP has almost 6,000 fighters in Afghanistan.
