Taliban militant details how India funded terror in Pakistan

Pakistani solciers in Swat, Photo Credit:  Al Jazeera English via Wikimedia Commons

An infamous Tehreek-e-Taliban spokesman, who has surrendered himself toPakistani security forces, has detailed in a confessional statement how India backed the TTP terror attacks against Pakistan with the collusion of Afghan intelligence.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, who was loathed by Pakistanis, each time he claimed another  bloodbath on behalf of the TTP for several years, said in a videotaped confession that intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing fueled the group’s  terrorism in Pakistan through financing.

Following release of the statement, Pakistan’s top foreign policy official Sartaj Aziz said Islamabad will take up the issue with the Afghans.

The video, released by Pakistan Armed Forces’ media wing Inter Services Public Relations confesses, shows Ehsan admitting to him and his accomplices having links with RAW.

“My name is Liaquat Ali, aka Ehsanullah Ehsan and I belong to the Mohmand Agency,” the video starts. “I joined the TTP in 2008 when I was a college student.I have been a spokesperson for TTP Mohmand, TTP’s central division, and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar,” he says.

“I have played the role of a spokesperson and during my nine years, I saw a lot happening in TTP. They misguided dozens of people, especially the youth, into joining the organization in the name of Islam.”

Ehsan is currently in the army’s custody. Last week, DG ISPR Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor, during a press conference, revealed that the key commander of the outlawed TTP’s breakaway faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) had turned himself in.

“As far as Ehsanullah Ehsan is concerned, he is in our custody. When there is more information regarding him to share, we will do so,” Maj-Gen Ghafoor said.

Ehsan, in the video further says, “They [the TTP leadership] got their [Indian] support, their funding and took money for every activity they did. They pushed the TTP soldiers on the front lines to fight against the Pakistan Army and went into hiding themselves,” he added.

“When they started taking help from India and RAW, I told Umar Khalid Khorasani [TTP commander] that we’re supporting the kuffar [non-believers] and helping them kill our own people in our own country.”

“He [Khorasani] said, ‘Even if Israel agrees to fund me to spread terror in Pakistan, I will take their help’… At that point, I had figured out that the TTP leadership was functioning to serve its own self-interest and agendas,” Ehsan says.

“These [terrorist] organizations have their committees in Afghanistan through which they communicate with NDS (Afghan intelligence agency) and through it RAW. NDS gave them documents [Afghan IDs] so that they can easily move around [in Afghanistan].”

They never lived up to their own slogans and what they preached, he adds in the video.

“A particular group misled the innocent, kidnapped them and extorted them for money,” he said.

“Pak Army has destroyed several J-A camps in Afghanistan and killed many of their commanders in its operation. As a result of this, they [terrorists] had to flee the area and abandon their headquarters. This has also shaken the morale of their fighters and their senior leadership.”

“The same group is responsible for bombings at various places; schools, colleges, and university. This is against the teachings of Islam,” the TTP-JA spokesperson can be heard saying.

Ehsan further reveals Mullah Fazlullah became TTP leader through a lucky draw.

“The fight for leadership intensified when operations began in Waziristan. When everybody in the organisation began fighting for leadership, the committee decided to have a lucky draw. Mullah Fazlullah became the leader via lucky draw,” he says.

“What can you expect from such organisations in which leaders are selected through the process of a lucky draw?”

Continuing, Ehsan says , “The fight for leadership intensified after Hakimullah’s death. Everyone wanted to become the leader. After Hakimullah was killed, a new succession struggle began.”

The arrested militant also had a for those who “are stuck there [in the TTP] and who want to quit.”

“Adopt the path of peace and come back to the life of tranquility.”

Ehsan’s surrender was revealed in wake of surrender by eight JuA commanders earlier this month. On April 3, the ISPR announced the surrender but gave out only three names – that of Akbar, Gul, and Siraj. It is not confirmed whether Ehsan was among the eight militants or he surrendered later.

After the release of the confessional video,  DG ISPR Major-General Asif Ghafoor said, “Ehsanullah Ehsan exposed hostile foreign agenda & their designs to destabilise Pakistan. Our youth is our strength, shall never fall prey.”