Pak: TTP’s ceasefire call-off may prompt Army Chief to roll back Bajwa’s doctrine of apolitical army

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 3 (ANI): The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) announcement about ending the six-month-old ceasefire with Pakistan may prompt new Army Chief General Asim Munir to roll back former establishment head Qamar Javed Bajwa’s doctrine of the apolitical army to the dismay of politicians.
TTP is an umbrella organisation of several radical Sunni militant groups that seek to establish Sharia law in Pakistan. It has sanctuaries on either side of the Durand Line that divides Pakistan and Afghanistan; it has been a known ally of the Taliban regime, which was viewed till recently as Islamabad’s proxy, Magda Lipan writes in the policy research group POREG.
Earlier, on November 28, TTP called off a shaky ceasefire with the government and ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country.
According to the TTP statement, they called off the ceasefire agreed with the government in June, reported Dawn.
The TTP’s decision of ending the ceasefire signal that Pakistan’s banned outfit TTP has lost trust in the “Haqqani faction” of the Afghan Taliban, and has aligned itself with the rival “Kandahari faction” led by Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob. And this is clearly visible with the TTP threats that came as Asim Munir became the new Army Chief of Pakistan, according to a think tank.
The Army Chief had played a crucial role in the military action against the TTP. He has also targeted TTP and killed some of its top commanders including Abdul Wali, alias Omar Khalid Khorasani.
Munir’s appointment and Islamabad’s growing tilt towards Washington is not going down well with Afghan Taliban in Kabul.
It cannot be just a coincidence that the TTP activities in Pakistan have increased since the Taliban returned to Kabul. These are now set to intensify. It will set the stage for the escalation of Pakistani military action against Pashtun tribes and Afghan mujahideen. This will aggravate Pakistan’s political and economic instability.
The provocation for TTP is the Pakistan Army’s crackdown on “their people” in Bannu, Lakki Marwat and other pockets of the border region besides the growing trust deficit in Pak- Afghan relations, reported POREG.
Since their return to Kabul more than a year ago, Taliban 2.0 has been at odds with Pakistan over the international border, which Islamabad wants to fence. Moreover, the persecution of Pashtun tribes by the Pakistani Army has added to the bitterness between the two countries. The TTP has been blaming the Pakistani Army for carrying out military operations against Afghan mujahideen.
The TTP’s decision is not good for China even. China is looking for a role in the Kabul theatre and wants to extend the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan. The militant group had carried out several fatal attacks on CPEC projects in the past. Now they will increase, as per POREG. (ANI)