ISLAMABAD: Islamabad said on Sunday that a new United Nations monitoring report which warned that the Pakistani Taliban had increased in strength after a reunification in Afghanistan, vindicated the country’s position on militant threats posed to Pakistan and the region from across the border, in a statement from the foreign office.

The 27th UN Analytical and Monitoring Team (UNMT) report of Feb.3 which primarily focused on the activities of Daesh and Al-Qaeda across the world, said the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was “reported to have overseen a reunification of splinter groups that took place in Afghanistan and was moderated by Al-Qaeda,” leading to a sharp increase in attacks in the region-- by one count more than 100 cross-border attacks between July and October 2020.

“The report vindicates Pakistan’s longstanding position on threats posed to Pakistan and the region by groups like TTP, JuA, HuA and their affiliates based in Afghanistan,” the foreign office statement said.

Pakistan has in the past drawn the attention of the international community to the support provided to TTP by ‘hostile intelligence agencies,’ the statement continued, and added it expected a ‘dedicated effort’ would be launched by the Afghan national security forces to ‘neutralise’ the threat.

The TTP, designated a terrorist group by the United States, has been in disarray in recent years, especially after several of its top leaders were killed by US drone strikes on both sides of the border, forcing its members into shelter in Afghanistan, or fleeing to urban Pakistan.

The UN monitoring report also acknowledged that Pakistan had ‘taken action’ in recent months against terror financing, by the arrests of individuals and the freezing of assets of designated entities.

“Pakistan stands firm in its resolve to partner with international community against the menace of terrorism,” the FO statement said.