They claim to be soldiers of Islam. They talk of jihad, martyrdom, and shariah. But their battlefield is soaked not in the blood of honour, nor their slogans grounded in faith. Time and again, the so-called terrorists of the Indian-backed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), known across Pakistan as Fitna al-Khawarij, have revealed their true face: armed predators exploiting religion to mask their perversions and crimes.
The latest evidence comes from Jandola, a troubled town in District Tank, where two factions of the Fitna Al-Khawarij, Basir and Shaheen, turned on each other in a deadly armed clash, not over ideology, leadership, or any so-called “Islamic principle”, but over the custody and control of two abducted teenage boys.
According to confirmed local sources, the confrontation began after both groups laid claim to the same pair of boys, reportedly abducted from nearby areas. Tensions flared into open violence. By the end of it, four khawarij belonging to the Shaheen faction were killed, not by security forces, not in battle with the state, but by their own fellow “mujahideen” over a dispute drenched in depravity.
This isn’t an isolated case. It’s part of a growing body of evidence that points to systematic sexual abuse and exploitation of boys by Khawarij factions, often followed by cover-ups, staged accusations, and outright murder.
In April, a violent dispute broke out between TTP and Lashkar-e-Islam fighters, again reportedly over the abuse of a minor. And before that, in Afghanistan, a teenage boy shot dead a Taliban commander who tried to assault him.
But perhaps the most horrifying recent example came from Amakhel, just miles from Jandola, where a 13-year-old boy named Iftiaz, son of Ijaz, was abducted by Khawarij. The next day, his beheaded body was found dumped on a roadside, with a note falsely claiming that he had poisoned six fighters.
Locals immediately called the bluff. “How could a 13-year-old poison six armed Khawarij?” one elder asked. “Where are the dead bodies of those Khawarij, if that was true? Why would they let a child serve them food?” The truth, as alleged by his family and neighbours, was painfully clear: Iftiaz had refused to be sexually exploited. So they killed him, and tried to disguise their crime with a fabricated justification.
Khawarij have long relied on religious posturing and violent propaganda to mask their true face. But with every incident like Jandola or Amakhel, that mask slips further. Their actions, targeting children, silencing dissent, and now killing each other for access to minors, have exposed them as nothing more than roving gangs of armed criminals with a twisted moral compass.
These are not mujahideen. These are rapists with rifles, cloaked in the name of Islam. They are not fighting for the ummah; they are fighting over victims.
Behind their banners and sermons lie a culture of moral decay, tribal-style warlordism, and complete impunity. They exploit poverty, silence, and fear, especially in underdeveloped regions like southern KP, to carry out abuses that go largely unreported.
As details of the Jandola clash spread, public anger is growing. In Tank, Waziristan, Bajaur, and beyond, people are waking up to the reality that these Khawarij are not defenders of faith, but destroyers of childhood, of community, of decency.
