- ‘One of RAW’s main agendas is to create a rift between Punjabis and Pashtuns’
- Ehsan says TTP is not an organised movement; after Hakeemullah’s death, all of the local chiefs wanted leadership
The former face of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) Ehsanullah Ehsan has claimed that Indian spy agency RAW’s main aim is to stoke communal tension in Pakistan, saying RAW coordinated with the anti-Pakistan terrorist outfits based in Afghanistan through the NDS—the premier Afghan intelligence agency.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday accepted the IMC’s application and allowed Geo News TV to broadcast Ehsan’s interview.
“One of their main agendas is to create a rift between Punjabis and Pashtuns [in Pakistan],” said Ehsan in his interview on RAW’s intentions.
On a question about the freedom of movement of anti-Pakistan terrorists inside Afghanistan, Ehsan said the Afghan government is fully aware of their movements. “We used to inform them beforehand that we would be passing through a certain area and should not face any difficulty. There was a proper system to it,” he explained.
In the areas where Afghans had no control in the presence of NATO or American troops, he said, “They [Afghans] used to make us aware of the potential hindrances.”
Afghan forces have a greater hold mostly in urban areas, he revealed.
TTP NOT AN ORGANISED MOVEMENT:
Ehsan said that when the TTP was formed in early 2008, the idea was to take part in Jihad against the allied powers in Afghanistan, adding that their training base was in Mohmand Agency, while the instructors there belonged to Afghanistan. When there was a military operation in Mohmand Agency in 2011, they moved to Kunar in Afghanistan, he said.
Ehsan said that he was later called to Waziristan, where he was appointed as the official spokesperson of TTP.
On the organisational structure of the TTP, Ehsan said as far as he was aware, TTP was not an organised movement. “It was like an umbrella. Baitullah Mehsud had gathered people (groups) from rural and urban areas to make the TTP. At that time, each area had its own chief. After Baitullah, Hakimullah Mehsud took over the leadership. After Hakeemullah’s death, all of the local chiefs wanted to be the leader, so Fazlullah was elected as the chief of the organisation after a lucky draw, and Khalid Haqqani was appointed his deputy.”
He added that after Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA)’s formation, he moved around in Afghanistan.
JUA CHIEF KHORASANI TREATED IN INDIA:
When asked to comment on [JuA chief] Omar Khorasani’s whereabouts, Ehsan revealed Khorasani has two to four houses in Afghanistan and three wives. “Therefore, he shuttles among Jalalabad, Khost and Kabul,” he said, adding that “the last time I met him was 5-6 months ago when he came to Khost to meet me.”
Commenting on Khorasani’s injury reports, Ehsan said six months after the formation of JuA in 2015, Khorasani was injured in the area of Lalpura. “He went to India to get treatment where he was completely cured. He travelled on an Afghan passport.”
On a question on the whereabouts of [TTP chief] Maulana Fazlullah, Ehsan said he is living in Kunar.
With regards to the relations between TTP and JuA, Ehsan said each head was looking to take on total power.
Regarding the potential merger of JuA and Islamic State (IS), Ehsan said Khorasani had demanded IS to make him their chief representative of the region, but this was not accepted.
Replying to a question, Ehsan informed that cross-border shelling on JuA camps by the Pakistan Army had resulted in the killing of several commanders and relocation of foot soldiers.
‘RAW COORDINATES THROUGH NDS’:
On a question about RAW’s destabilisation attempts in Balochistan, he said that he had heard about these things while being in the organisation from various people, adding that the organisation was also informed to improve relationships with other countries. He said that they had a problem on the Kashmir policy and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as well. “However, RAW always coordinated and sent in their messages to us through the NDS. It is one of the main aims of RAW to create communal tensions in Pakistan.”
Talking about TTP’s income and supply of arms amidst the decrease in manpower, he said that the arms and money had not reduced a bit because there were lots of ways to recover and obtain these things. “They also receive extortion money from common people. If they don’t oblige, their homes are obliterated and they are killed,” he revealed.
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