ISLAMABAD: The Afghan Taliban’s support for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fueled deadlier attacks in Pakistan in the last six months, a United Nations Security Council-mandated monitoring group said this week, adding that the militant threat emanating from Afghanistan remained “largely unchanged.”
The TTP, which has carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan since 2007, has stepped up its attacks in the South Asian country in recent years, killing dozens of security personnel and civilians, mainly in Pakistan’s northwestern and southwestern regions that border Afghanistan.
Pakistan has frequently accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of supporting the TTP, an allegation denied by Kabul. The continuing attacks soured relations between Islamabad and Kabul, which have resulted in fierce clashes between both countries since February this year.
In its report to the UNSC president, the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team stated that the ability of numerous militant groups to operate in Afghanistan has constituted an “enduring threat to neighboring countries” and the Central Asian region.
“Regional tensions in South Asia remained high as cross-border attacks between Pakistan and Afghanistan continued,” read the report released on Aug. 10.
“The de facto authorities (Taliban) continued their support to the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which escalated attacks against Pakistan, provoking military exchanges. The Taliban continued publicly to deny harboring any terrorist groups.”
The report followed a sharp rise in militant attacks and security operations in Pakistan last month, with at least 401 militants killed in July in the highest monthly toll recorded in more than a decade and 112 security personnel killed in the deadliest month since 2023, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).
Overall, PICSS data showed that the first seven months of 2026 witnessed 2,786 deaths linked to militant violence and counter-militancy operations. Those killed included 1,857 militants, 463 civilians, 434 security forces personnel and 32 members of peace committees.
The UN monitoring group also acknowledged efforts by the Taliban to combat Islamic State (Daesh) and other militant groups but observed that the Afghan authorities were unable to “suppress the terrorist problem.”
“The de facto authorities of Afghanistan relocated approximately 2,000 TTP fighters and families from the Pakistani border to further inside Afghanistan, seeking to rein in TTP,” the report said.
“The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, reportedly warned the TTP leadership through back‑channel communications to halt attacks targeting Pakistan or risk losing the Taliban’s support.”
The UN group, however, said the TTP continued to escalate attacks on Pakistan and at the beginning of March, the group announced in multiple languages its spring campaign, “Operation Khyber,” calling for increased attacks in and against Pakistan.
One of the deadliest attacks occurred on February 16 in the Bajaur district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device killed 11 security personnel and one child, wounding others, according to the UN monitoring group. The TTP claimed responsibility, reportedly operating from Afghanistan.
The UN monitoring group said that Al-Qaeda’s status and strength in Afghanistan also “remained unchanged” and on April 28, Al-Qaeda’s official media outlet, the As-Sahab Media Foundation, published a statement supporting the Taliban and, for the first time, the TTP in its operations against Pakistan.
“While Al-Qaeda provided ideological guidance, training and support to TTP in the latter’s insurgency against Pakistan, this public statement was more direct,” it added.
