At least five soldiers of the Pakistani security forces have been killed in two attacks-- including an IED explosion targeting a security force vehicle - in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, authorities confirmed. In the last two months, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban, has mounted over three dozen attacks targeting security forces. The Pakistan Taliban, which is different from the Afghan Taliban, has intensified its operations in the country’s northwestern region after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban insurgents. 

The two groups, however, share ideological similarities and also enjoy close tactical cooperation.   

In the first attack, militants attacked a security check post on Wednesday morning in North Waziristan, a known stronghold of the Pakistan Taliban, a banned militant organization seeking to establish Sharia laws in Pakistan, killing an army soldier, the Pakistan military confirmed. 

On the same day in the evening, a vehicle carrying members of the police and paramilitary forces came under attack in Bajaur district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Abdul Samad Khan, a senior police officer, confirmed the attack. 

Two police officers and two soldiers were killed in the attack, Dawn quoted him as saying. He added troops launched a search operation in the region to find those who orchestrated the attack.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Imran Khan confirmed the government was in talks with a section of the TTP, seeking a peaceful solution to the insurgency, now being waged for almost 14 years. The Afghan Taliban, he confirmed, was mediating between the government and the militants. 

The TTP, however, refuted the reports of a temporary ceasefire--later demonstrated by their series of attacks on the forces. Experts have warned about a possible uptick in violence--a trend already evident in the past weeks--after the Taliban victory in Afghanistan. 

Islamists militants in Pakistan have become motivated by the Afghan Taliban, which, they said, defeated a superpower like the US, and toppled the western-backed Afghan government.

Furthermore, the decision to go into talks with the TTP remains controversial as the government took the initiative without taking Parliament, opposition leaders, and the public in confidence. For many, it is hard to digest their government talking to a terrorist organization, responsible for killing over 10,000 Pakistanis citizens.   

Fahd Husain, a well-known senior Pakistani journalist, in an op-ed in Dawn writes, “Forgive those who bathed this society in blood? The momentous decision cannot be taken behind closed doors by shadowy figures armed with a rationale that has not been nourished by public opinion.” 

The last time when the government held talks with the TTP was in 2013-2014, which was suspended after the TTP executed 24 soldiers and attacked the Karachi International Airport. However, during the period, the government lost its narrative to the TTP which managed to articulate its propaganda very well, showing and terming the Pakistan government “un-Islamic”.

 (SAM)