The hunt for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TPP) leader Mullah Fazlullah has become the country’s top priority after the deadly Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar, according to a report published in Financial Times.
According to the report, Pakistani intelligence officials claim that Fazlullah is hiding in Afghanistan’s Kunar province just across the border from Pakistan, and the pursuit has involved a unified action between the armies of Pakistan, Afghanistan and US forces, including the use of drone strikes.
“All three countries are together in this, which is fairly unprecedented. This is the ideal model for tripartite cooperation in this region,” stated the report quoting a senior western official in Islamabad. “Even though it’s the huge tragedy in Peshawar that brought them together, it’s good to see them co-operate,” he adds.
Signs of improved military cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be welcomed by the Obama administration, as Washington prepares to hand over large parts of security duties to Afghan forces by Wednesday.
The report states that in recent months, Pakistani and western intelligence officials have closely tracked Fazlullah for signs of contacts between him and the hardline Sunni militant group Islamic State (IS) led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after reports surfaced of some TTP militants seeking to forge closer ties with the latter.
“This (an alliance between the TTP and IS) would be a deadly combination,” states the report quoting a senior Pakistani intelligence official. “It’s clear that (Fazlullah) has ambitions that go far beyond just vying for space in a part of our country.”
Analysts say a successful end to the hunt for Fazlullah will mark a milestone in Pakistan’s push to defeat Taliban militants after the Peshawar attack, while becoming a possible model for future Pakistani-Afghan security cooperation. “For the first time, the Pakistan army and the Afghan army are going after a common target,” says the report citing Ikram Sehgal, a Pakistani commentator on defence and security affairs.
