The report by a United Nations committee that says the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which functions with impunity because of the sanctuary provided by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, may be seeking a merger with Al-Qaeda to create an umbrella organization should cause concern. The report says that TTP may be seeking such a merger with a view to emerging as an organization that provides sanctuary to terrorist groups across South Asia. According to the report, the two groups are sharing training camps in the Kunar province of Afghanistan and may have decided to join hands with a view to wresting control over a portion of Pakistan’s northern territories, where the TTP has been targeting both military and civilian targets with impunity. While the immediate problem may seem to be that of Pakistan, which paradoxically had played a key role in allowing both TTP and Al-Qaeda to flourish, it is certain that such a merger, if it were to come about, would pose a threat to security establishments elsewhere, too. The report has highlighted how the TTP has increased its footprint ever since the Taliban assumed power in Afghanistan in August 2021, and says that other sanctioned groups may be supporting the TTP to avoid coming under the control of the Afghan regime. The UN document has identified Afghanistan as a region of global significance from the perspective of terrorism, and says some 20 terrorist groups are operating in the country with the ultimate objective of creating theocratic quasi-state entities. This means that they would strive to create pockets within Pakistan and elsewhere where their obscurantist interpretation of Islamic laws would prevail, and would have a significant impact on both religious freedoms and women’s rights.

While the Taliban regime has rejected the UN report, saying that Al Qaeda has no presence in the country, the fact is that amorphous identities and dual loyalties ~ to the TTP and Al Qaeda, for instance ~ makes the waters far too murky for Kabul to be so dismissive. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban regime’s spokesman, tweeted on Friday: “Al Qaeda organization does not exist in Afghanistan now, reports about this are incorrect. The Islamic Emirate does not allow anyone to use the territory of Afghanistan against the security of any other country.” While hairs can be split on whether the Taliban allows anyone to use Afghanistan against the security of other countries, the fact that TTP has been doing just that is more than amply clear. If there is, as the UN report suggests, to be a coalescing of terror groups, Pakistan may not be the only target. This is a situation that others in South Asia must guard against. The report has been submitted to the Security Council, and it is hoped that members will sink their differences and take it seriously

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