KARACHI:
A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report has said attacks on Pakistan by banned terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Afghanistan have increased, supporting Islamabad’s long-standing complaints about militant sanctuaries across the border.
The 37th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, dated February 4, not only supported Islamabad’s stance that Afghanistan had become a sanctuary for militants who used its territory to launch attacks against Pakistan, but also came at a time when the country is facing a new wave of violence.
Last week, at least 33 people were killed and around 169 injured when a suicide bomber attacked Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra during Friday prayers. Security forces also concluded ‘Operation Radd-ul-Fitna-1’ in Balochistan following coordinated attacks by terrorists. According to the military, 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed during the operations, while 22 security and law enforcement personnel “made the ultimate sacrifice.” He said 216 terrorists were also “sent to hell.”
According to a UN report, the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan remains a concern in Central and South Asia.
“There was an increase in attacks in Pakistan launched by TTP (Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan) in Afghanistan, leading to military exchanges. Regional relations remained fragile. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) was under sustained counter-terrorism pressure, but retained a potent capability, along with the intention to conduct external operations,” he said.
The report also highlighted concern among countries in the region about the number of terrorist groups in Afghanistan and the spillover effects, including cross-border attacks and the radicalization of vulnerable domestic communities.
He said de facto Afghan authorities claimed there were no terrorist groups within Afghanistan’s borders, but said “no Member State supported this view.”
It further said: “The de facto authorities continued to act against ISIL-K and control the external activities of some other groups. However, the TTP was granted greater freedom and support by the de facto authorities and, consequently, TTP attacks against Pakistan increased, amplifying regional tensions.”
The report also said that Al Qaeda continued to enjoy the patronage of de facto authorities and acted as a service provider and multiplier for other terrorist groups in Afghanistan through training and advice, primarily to the TTP.
He further added that the TTP operated as one of the largest terrorist groups in Afghanistan, and its attacks on Pakistani security forces and state structures led to a military confrontation. The attacks were increasingly complex and sometimes involved large numbers of combatants, he noted.
The report cites an attack on an Islamabad court on November 11 that resulted in 12 deaths and was claimed by a TTP splinter group. He described the incident as the first attack in the capital in several years and a change from the TTP’s previous targets.
“Some member states expressed concern that the TTP may deepen its cooperation with al-Qaeda-aligned groups to attack a broader range of targets, which could result in an extra-regional threat.”
The report described Pakistan’s actions against the TTP as a major setback for the group.
“The TTP suffered several operational setbacks, notably the death of Mufti Muzahim (TTP deputy emir, not listed) in a Pakistani operation in October,” he said.
The report also drew attention to a series of attacks by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) on Pakistani security forces and projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“On September 16, the BLA ambushed a Pakistani military convoy patrolling the corridor, killing 32 soldiers. Although Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations restricted the BLA’s operational space, it remained active.”
He added that some member states reported that the BLA collaborated with TTP and ISIL-K through training camps and shared resources, coordinating attacks and meetings between commanders. Some member states assessed that there was no association or growing links between the BLA and Al Qaeda or ISIL.
The report said several groups in Afghanistan had acquired modern weapons and equipment through cross-border smuggling and black market trade.
“TTP used advanced assault rifles, night vision devices, thermal imaging devices, sniper systems and drone strike systems. Most of these were provided by de facto authorities along with weapons permits and travel documents,” he said.
However, the report highlighted that several Member States noted that the continued proliferation of weapons from stockpiles left by former partners of the Global Coalition against Daesh had increased the lethality of TTP attacks against Pakistani security forces.
The report stated that Member States remained concerned about possible flows of fighters, including from Central Asia, to Afghanistan or Africa.
He said Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) remained active in southeastern Afghanistan, where the Haqqani Network wielded considerable influence. Osama Mahmoud, the “emir” of AQIS, and Yahya Ghauri, his deputy, were reported to be in Kabul, with the AQIS media cell based in Herat.
According to the report, ISIL-K remained under significant pressure, primarily from security operations by states in the region, but maintained a strong operational capacity and the ability to replenish its ranks, including through online recruitment,
The report says ISIL-K was able to quickly replace fighters and maintain combat capability despite continued counterterrorism operations.
“The pressure campaign pushed ISIL-K to seek alliances with other armed factions in different areas of Afghanistan,” he said.
He added that ISIL-K was active mainly in northern Afghanistan, particularly in Badakhshan, and in areas near the border with Pakistan. The report says the group continued to expand its network of cells to project a threat within and outside the region.
Furthermore, the report said that members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement/Turkeystan Islamic Party (ETIM/TIP) were able to move freely in Afghanistan under the patronage of the de facto authorities.
“Under the sponsorship of the de facto authorities, which included the issuance of identity cards, ETIM/TIP members were able to move freely within Afghanistan and have gradually concentrated in Badakhshan,” he said.
According to one Member State cited in the report, ETIM/TIP members raised funds from poppy cultivation and mining. The report said that around 250 members joined the Taliban police forces in 2025.
It also quoted a member state as saying that ETIM/TIP in Afghanistan asked its members in the Syrian Arab Republic and neighboring countries to move to Afghanistan in preparation to “return to Xinjiang for jihad.”
The UN assessment said there was no information indicating any large-scale movement of foreign terrorist fighters from the Syrian Arab Republic to Afghanistan, although some isolated cases were reported.
He said Central Asian states, in particular, remained concerned about the potential risk of Central Asian fighters moving into northern Afghanistan to plan attacks against their home countries.
The report also said there were reports that foreign terrorist fighters were trained in exclusive camps in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan and India of supporting terrorism
Pakistan has repeatedly pointed to an Afghanistan-India nexus behind terrorism in the country. The Interior Minister said earlier this week that the mastermind behind the attack was an Afghan national linked to Daesh.
In November 2024, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had issued a warning that the Afghan regime was a threat not only to Pakistan but to the entire region and the world, citing the abandonment of US military equipment worth $7.2 billion during the US withdrawal.
Lt. Gen. Chaudhry reiterated that the Afghan regime was harboring “non-state actors” that posed a threat to several countries in the region, and pointed to the Taliban’s failure to establish an inclusive state and government after 2021. He stressed that Pakistan’s problem was with the Afghan Taliban regime, not the Afghan people.
After the conflict with India in May 2025, Field Marshal Asim Munir had said that Pakistan would never be coerced and that all hostile attempts to derail the country’s counter-terrorism efforts would be “completely defeated”.
In August last year, the annual report of the monitoring team of the UN’s 1988 Taliban sanctions committee said that the illegal terrorist groups – BLA, including its Majeed Brigade, and TTP – had “close coordination”.
The report said that regional relations remained fragile and that “there was a risk that terrorist groups would exploit these regional tensions.” He added that the TTP had approximately 6,000 fighters and continued to receive significant logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities (the Taliban).
“Some member states reported that the TTP maintained connections at a tactical level with ISIL-K or Daesh,” he said. “The TTP continued to carry out high-profile attacks in the region, some of which resulted in massive casualties,” the report added.
The UN Security Council report states that “some BLA attacks showed a high degree of complexity and brutality”, citing the hijacking of the Jaffar Express in Balochistan on March 11, 2025, in which 31 people were killed, including 21 hostages.
In 2023, a UN report also revealed that the illegal TTP had established a new base in KP in mid-2023. The report sheds light on the close links not only between the TTP and the Afghan Taliban but also with anti-Pakistan groups and Al Qaeda.
The report further revealed that some Taliban members had also joined the TTP, perceiving it as a religious obligation to provide support.
Interlocutors reported that TTP members and their families regularly received aid packages from the Taliban.
Importantly, the UN report noted a significant increase in Afghan citizens in the ranks of the TTP. This supported Pakistan’s position that a growing number of Afghan nationals were involved in suicide attacks in the country.
