Pakistani Taliban

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or simply the Pakistani Taliban, is a Deobandi jihadist militant organisation that primarily operates along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and by the Government of Pakistan. Founded by Baitullah Mehsud in 2007, it has been led by Noor Wali Mehsud since 2018. The TTP has publicly pledged allegiance to and fought alongside the Taliban, which has governed Afghanistan since 2021, but it operates independently and does not share the Taliban's command structure. Like the Taliban, the TTP ascribes to Pashtunwali and a highly conservative interpretation of Sunni Islam. In Pakistan, the TTP is particularly known for carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks against government targets, political opponents, and Pakistani civilians. The organisation frequently engages in sectarian violence, especially against Shia Muslims and other non-Sunni minorities. Most Islamist organisations in Pakistan coalesce under the TTP. As a leading militant faction in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa insurgency, the TTP has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks on the Pakistan Armed Forces, ultimately seeking to overthrow the Pakistani government and establish an Islamic state in line with the organisation's Deobandi ideology. The TTP has also used Pashtun-centric narratives and often incited violence against non-Pashtun ethnicities, such as the Hazaras. The TTP depends on the tribal belt along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, from which it draws its recruits. In 2019, there were around 3,000 to 4,000 TTP militants in Afghanistan, according to a report by the United States Department of Defense. Between July and November 2020, the Amjad Farouqi group, one faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Musa Shaheed Karwan group, Mehsud factions of the TTP, Mohmand Taliban, Bajaur Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, and Hizb-ul-Ahrar merged with TTP. This reorganisation made TTP more deadly and led to increased attacks. The Pakistani Taliban have previously assisted...