Islamabad: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is giving sleepless nights to the Pakistani establishment, has released a video, showing combat preparations and training of its cadres, including suicide bombers, and declaring intent to carry out widespread attacks.
The video comes against the backdrop of sharp deterioration in the security situation in Pakistan over the last few months, with TTP along with Baloch outfits stepping up attacks across the country.
In the video, titled ‘We are Ready (2)’, the TTP highlights the ‘Special Istishadi Force’, which is a unit of suicide bombers, undergoing training in combat uniform and using US-made weapons.
In another video released by TTP, its chief Abu Mansoor Asim Mufti Nooruli Mehsud is seen slamming Pakistan over its claim of fighting terrorism.
Urging the clerics not to call the TTP cadres “terrorists” or “misled” people or “terrorists, Mehsud says the outfit engaged in talks with the Pakistani establishment for about a year and implemented a ceasefire.
“But Pakistan grossly violated the ceasefire and we have asked our cadres to hit back,” he says in the video.
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According to Pakistan’s Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), December 2022 saw the maximum attacks, resulting in enhanced casualties, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.
During the year 2022, Pakistan saw 376 attacks, mostly claimed by TTP, Islamic State of Khorasan and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the CRSS has said in its report, according to Dawn Newspaper of Pakistan.
It said there was “unprecedented spate” in violence in KP and Balochistan after November 28, when TTP ended ceasefire, with over two dozen attacks in the month of December alone.
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Nearly “64 per cent of all the fatalities in the country” happened in KP, followed by Balochistan which saw 26 per cent of deaths due to attacks by the freedom fighters.
The hostage issue at the KP police’s Counter-Terrorism Department interrogation centre in Bannu and the suicide bombing in Islamabad some weeks back led to a scare in the power corridors of Pakistan.
Some foreign countries were also worried over the worsening security situation, with the US, UK, Australia and Saudi Arabia issuing advisories, asking their nationals to restrict movements in Pakistan and avoid non-essential trips.
