In a brazen assault, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants killed a policeman in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad as they attacked a police station. Two militants belonging to the group were also killed by the Pakistan security forces in the attack  which the country’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid described as an “act of terrorism.”

The incident took place on Monday evening and the TTP on Tuesday claimed the attack, while also confirming the death of the two of their own militants, Dawn reported. Attending the funeral of the slain policeman on Tuesday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said the incident wasn’t a robbery or dacoity gone awry but a clean act of terrorism.

Earlier, the TTP, a banned militant group, had mounted most of its attacks in the northwestern region, a known stronghold of the group. Significantly, the Monday attack in the country’s capital marked a shift in both the militant’s approach and tactics.

“We have received a kind of signal that terrorist incidents have started happening in Islamabad,” Rashid was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper. 

Since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan last year in August, the Pakistan government started peace talks with the TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban. However, the talks, facilitated by the Afghan Taliban, broke down in December last year. [Read More]

This was followed by the resumption of hostility and stepped-up attacks by the Pakistan Taliban on security forces. Meanwhile, ties between the Afghan Taliban and its long-time backer, Pakistan, also came under strain, with the former fiercely opposing the fencing of the Af-Pak border, known as the Durand Line. [Read More]

Reports also indicated Islamabad is putting pressure on the Afghan Taliban to act against the TTP, which enjoys sanctuaries in Afghanistan. [Read More]

Last week, a top TTP commander, Muhammad Khurasani, was killed in Afghanistan’s Nangahar province. It wasn’t clear if the Pakistan forces were directly involved in the attack. The Afghan Taliban denied the incident which was later confirmed by the Pakistan Taliban.

Over the last few weeks, the friction has been growing between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan over a range of issues, including border clashes and the TTP’s sanctuaries in Afghanistan. 

(SAM)