Karachi: Noor Wali Mehsud, leader of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has attempted to rebuff the impression that they are getting any backing from the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul, saying that his group was attacking Pakistan from “within its territory”, local media reported.
“We are fighting Pakistan’s war from within the territory of Pakistan; using Pakistani soil. We have the ability to fight for many more decades with the weapons and spirit of liberation that exist on the soil of Pakistan,” he said in an interview with CNN.
When asked if he was being secretive about help they were getting from the Taliban, he said, “When we don’t need any help from the Afghan Taliban, what is the point of hiding it?”
In recent weeks, Pakistan has witnessed a surge in cross-border attacks from Afghanistan and has pressed the Taliban government to take action against the culprits.
However, the TTP chief warned the US of retaliation in case of any attack on the group’s leadership.
“America should stop teasing us by interfering in our affairs unnecessarily at the instigation of Pakistan this cruel decision shows the failure of American politics,” CNN quoted Mehsud as saying.
He made these remarks in response to a question on the possibility of the US targeting TTP commanders operating from inside Afghanistan like al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri who was killed in a drone strike in
Kabul in September.
He said that “he did not expect America to take such action” against this group. “If America takes such a step, America itself will be responsible for its loss,” he warned, Dawn reported.
He told CNN that the US was yet to understand Pakistan’s “duplicitous policy”.
“Pakistan’s history is a witness that it keeps changing directions for its own interests,” he said in the interview.
Mehsud also blamed Pakistan for violating the ceasefire agreement, prompting the outlawed group to rescind it.
He claimed Pakistani forces “violated the ceasefire and martyred tens of our comrades and arrested tens of them.”
