UN red-flags TTP’s cross-border threat | The Express Tribune

UNITED NATIONS:

A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) anti-terror committee warned late on Wednesday that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had carried out a series of high-profile attacks from Afghan soil with support from the de facto authorities in Kabul.

Presenting the report to the 15-member body, the chair of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or Daesh) and al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi of Denmark, described the TTP as “a serious and evolving regional danger”.

Landi told the UNSC that the TTP, operating with an estimated 6,000 fighters inside Afghanistan, had executed attacks in Pakistan that caused mass casualties, adding that the group’s influence was rising alongside other terrorist organisations in the region.

She said ISIL-Khorasan remained one of the most potent threats in Central and South Asia, with around 2,000 fighters targeting Shia communities, Afghan authorities and foreign nationals, while expanding its recruitment and propaganda operations across multiple countries.

Landi added that affiliates of Daesh and al Qaeda continued to widen their footprint from Syria to Africa, exploiting instability, weak governance and technologies such as cryptocurrencies and social media to raise funds, recruit followers and amplify violent messaging.

Responding to the briefing, Pakistan’s envoy Usman Jadoon underlined Islamabad’s long fight against terrorism, saying the country had suffered more than 80,000 casualties and sustained billions of dollars in economic losses while confronting groups operating from Afghan territory.

Jadoon said Pakistani security forces continued to counter ISIL-K, the TTP and its affiliates, as well as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade, which he said were thriving under Afghan patronage and backed by Pakistan’s principal adversary.

He urged the UNSC to ensure that the 1267 Sanctions Regime reflected ground realities and that listing or delisting decisions were handled transparently and without political considerations, stressing the need for an impartial approach to all entities under review.

The envoy added that the UN counterterrorism system must have the authority to designate violent far-right, ultranationalist, xenophobic and Islamophobic groups worldwide, arguing that a credible zero-tolerance framework required an even-handed global mechanism.

China supported Pakistan’s stance at the meeting, calling on members of the sanctions committee to approve the listing of the BLA and its Majeed Brigade, saying the move would send a clear signal of unwavering resolve against terrorism in all its forms.

Council members were also told that foreign terrorist fighter movements between Syria, Africa and Central Asia remained a persistent concern, with militants adapting quickly to technological change and exploiting regional conflicts to expand operational reach.

The UNSC review came amid continued tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, as Islamabad insists Kabul must dismantle TTP networks based on its territory. Recent talks mediated by Turkiye and Qatar failed to secure progress despite several rounds.

Officials in Islamabad say Pakistan has kept border crossings closed for an indefinite period until Kabul offers verifiable and irreversible action against the TTP, leaving trade suspended and thousands of trucks stranded on both sides under tightened security.

Relations deteriorated sharply after Afghan forces opened unprovoked fire at several border points in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in October, prompting a forceful response from the Pakistan Army, which destroyed multiple Afghan posts during the clashes.

Security officials said the firing from the Afghan side was aimed at facilitating the infiltration of TTP terrorists across the frontier, but Pakistani troops responded decisively and prevented attempts to push the group’s fighters into the country.