Pak military neutralises TTP in Khyber to make way for LeT

NEW DELHI: In order to smoothen Lashkar-e-Taiba operations and ensure uninterrupted training in a new terrain, the Pakistani military has launched a “clean-up drive” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province to neutralise Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ( TTP ) cadre in Lower Dir district.

The clean-up drive, launched in June this year, has not only resulted in the death of over two dozen TTP operatives but also allowed the LeT to start constructing its new terror centre within a month of the operation. The recent aerial attack on an alleged TTP facility in Tirah Valley in KPK on Sept 22 was a part of this drive, an intelligence dossier has disclosed.

Though Pakistan was the main patron of the Taliban — a militia of fundamentalists trained in Deobandi madrasas in Pakistan — and helped them fight and beat Russians, Americans as well as local ethnic groups like Tajiks and aided them install themselves in Kabul, the TTP has refused to be as pliant as ISI — Pakistan’s spy agency — expected it to. Its assertion of autonomy can potentially be problematic for ISI’s plans to find a new base for the LeT in KPK, considering that it is the homeground for Taliban.

ISI has tried to recruit terrorists from the Lower Dir region for the jihad against India, Al Badr, but LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen had no presence there before Operation Sindoor in May. “Due to sectarian differences — TTP being Deobandi and anti-Pakistan and LeT following the Ahle Hadith ideology and being pro-Pakistan — there have been targeted killings of LeT commanders in Lower Dir by TTP operatives,” according to the dossier.

In 2011, the LeT had tried to establish a temporary training centre in Lower Dir, but a suicide bomb attack carried out by TTP at the funeral of an LeT commander had led to the deaths of dozens of LeT members, a source said.

Since June, the Pakistani army and air force have killed over 40 civilians in airstrikes, officially claiming these operations aimed at making Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “terror free”. “These operations are in reality focused on removing terrorists hostile to the Pakistani state while simultaneously facilitating the establishment of anti-India terror groups in the region, reflecting Pakistan’s longterm state strategy of endorsing ‘good terrorism’ while eliminating ‘bad terrorism’,” said a source.

Lashkar, the sources said, has also been asked by Pakistani spy agency ISI to share training facilities with the Hizbul Mujahideen.

“Operationally, the LeT’s new training centre expected to be completed by Dec 2025 poses a long-term threat. While still under construction, it is already emerging as a fresh hub for terrorist training,” the source added.