Pakistani Taliban Continue to Fight Back in Northeast

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed responsibility for suicide bombing a security checkpoint along a Pakistani highway in the Peshawar region, Tuesday. A Talban supporter reportedly drove a bomb-laden motorcycle into the security checkpoint killing 10 and wounding another 20. A TTP splinter group has also claimed responsibility for the attack.

TTP senior commander Mabool Dawar claimed the attack was in retaliation to recent arrests and killings of Taliban supporters. The increase in arrests is a result of an increase in security forces along the Pakistani-Afghan border to combat the influence of the Taliban and other groups in the region.

Reuters reports the number of attacks has gone down since the government forces crackdown on terrorist groups in the region, however TTP has continued to conducted attacks around the country in recent months. Just last week TTP claimed responsibility for the bombing of a polio center that killed 15.

The recent government crackdown was instigated by a TTP assault on a Pakistani school that killed 145 people, 132 of them being schoolchildren. The government responded with fierce air strikes against Taliban strongholds, and has since been closely monitoring the border region to limit operations in the Northeast.

Since June of 2014, Pakistani government forces have launched numerous offensives under Operation Zarb-e-Azb to route the Taliban out of the border region. However, this offensive has sparked extreme hostility from TTP.

Last Friday Newsweek reported that nearly 80 TTP supporters surrendered to government forces. An unnamed Tribal Leader hoped that this would be the beginning of more surrenders by Taliban forces, yet recent weeks have painted a different picture. The surrender may have been the impetus for Tuesday’s attack, and there may be more to come in the future.

TTP seems to be less intimated than government and news sources have led on. While the number of attacks may have gone down, TTP have been more brazen in recent months attacking security forces and installations in the region. In September 2014, TTP launched an attack on a Pakistani naval yard in Karachi that killed one person. This past September, TTP fighters attacked a Pakistani air force base in Peshawar, which killed 29 people.

Aside from attacking military installations, TTP and Pakistani Taliban splinter groups have continued to target civilian populations throughout Pakistan. On January 30, 2015, Jundullah, a TTP splinter group, bombed a Shia Mosque in the Shikarpur district killing 40 people. February 13, 2015, TTP attacked another Shia mosque in Peshawar killing another 20. March 15, 2015, TTP attacked a church during Sunday Mass in Lahore killing 14. Finally on December 29, 2015, TTP claimed responsibility for the bombing of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office killing 26 and wounding another 45.

The Pakistani Taliban may have lessened the number of attacks since the government crackdown, but they are still playing a dangerous role in the country. With the U.S. limiting its military and drone efforts around the region the only force to challenge TTP is Pakistani government forces.