• TTP largest terrorist group in Afghanistan, says Munir Akram.
• Adds outlawed group collaborating with BLA, Majeed Brigade.
• Laments Kabul’s failure to address threat posed by terror outfits.
  

As Pakistan continues to reel from the increased terror attacks in recent months, the country has warned the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is emerging as an umbrella organisation for regional terror groups.

The warning was highlighted by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Munir Akram during a UNSC meeting on Tuesday concerning the situation in Afghanistan wherein the envoy accentuated that the greatest threat to security and stability to the region arose from more than 20 terrorist organisations present in the neighbouring country.

Envoy Akram’s remarks come against the backdrop of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to curb the menace of terrorism as the country, as per a Global Terrorism Index 2025 report, has emerged as the second-most terrorism-affected nation in the world.

Placed at the second spot from its previously fourth position — witnessed an alarming 45% increase in terrorism-related deaths with the total rising from 748 in 2023 to 1,081 in 2024 — one of the steepest surges globally.

The number of terror attacks more than doubled from 517 in 2023 to 1,099 in 2024, which also marked the first year that attacks exceeded the 1,000 mark since the inception of the Index.

The increase in terrorist attacks, as per the report, coincides with the rise of the Afghan Taliban to power in Kabul.

Last week, security forces successfully thwarted a cowardly terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing all 16 militants who attempted to intrude into the facility.

However, in the exchange of fire, five soldiers were martyred along with 13 civilians. Undeterred, the country’s security forces continue to take significant action against terrorists and even arrested Mohammad Sharifullah alias Jafar — a Daesh-Khorasan operative — on intelligence provided by America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and handed him over to the United States.

The terrorist’s arrest holds significance due to his status as the main suspect in the attack on the Abbey Gate suicide attack at the Kabul Airport in Afghanistan in 2021 which resulted in the deaths of at least 170 Afghans as well as 13 US troops.

‘Kabul is complicit’

Echoing the GTI report, Ambassador Akram said that the TTP — with as many as 6,000 fighters — was the largest terrorist organisation operating from Afghan soil.

“With [terrorrist] safe havens close to our border, the TTP has conducted numerous attacks against Pakistan’s soldiers, civilians and institutions resulting in hundreds of casualties,” remarked the envoy.

“We have evidence that the Kabul authorities have not only tolerated but are complicit in the conduct of the TTP’s terrorist cross-border attacks,” he noted, adding that the TTP was collaborating with other terrorist groups present in Afghanistan, like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Majeed Brigade, which seek to destabilise Pakistan and disrupt the country’s economic cooperation with China.

The statement backs the statistics mentioned by the GTI report which not only termed the TTP as the deadliest terrorist group for Pakistan — accounting for 52% of all terrorism-related fatalities — but also highlighted that the banned organisation had capitalised on increased operational freedom and access to safe havens across the border

“The Kabul authorities have failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA and the Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan,” the envoy remarked.

Akram further highlighted the recovery of modern weapons — acquired by the Afghan authorities from stocks left behind by foreign forces —during counter-operations against the TTP.

Lamenting that it was “strange” that the Secretary-General’s report which is entitled “The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security”, covered the humanitarian, economic, and human rights issues but did not address the issue of terrorism, the ambassador said that Islamabad will initiate consultations on the creation of an appropriate mechanism to address this issue, including a Working Group on CT within the Doha process.