In a rare and candid admission, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Muhammad Sadiq, has acknowledged that some Taliban fighters have defected to rival extremist groups, including ISIS and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), further complicating the region’s fragile security situation.
Speaking at the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad, Sadiq revealed the Taliban’s growing internal dilemma — a reluctance to confront the TTP due to fears that doing so could trigger further defections of their fighters to ISIS-K. “Some defections have already occurred,” he confirmed, marking the first public admission by a senior Pakistani official on the matter.
Sadiq openly criticised the Taliban for failing to act against TTP militants operating from Afghan soil, despite repeated diplomatic efforts by Islamabad, including a recent high-level visit by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul. He also alluded to internal divisions within the Taliban leadership, particularly between the Kandahar-based top brass and the influential Haqqani network, the latter believed to be harbouring TTP fighters.
“The TTP is a clear and present danger to Pakistan,” Sadiq said, noting that this militant alliance has become a major obstacle in achieving stable Afghanistan-Pakistan ties.
He traced the roots of the current crisis back to the 2014 Operation Zarb-e-Azb, which pushed militants into Afghanistan — some of whom later embedded themselves in sleeper cells. Sadiq also lamented the exclusion of the TTP issue from the 2020 U.S.-Taliban peace deal, warning that oversight has now come full circle.
In a chilling revelation, Sadiq stated that extremist training camps still operate covertly, where suicide bombers are reportedly trained and transferred, or even “sold,” to militant factions — deepening the complexity of cross-border terrorism.
Despite the Taliban’s public denial of TTP presence, Sadiq underscored that even during the Ashraf Ghani regime, TTP operatives were viewed as security threats and were sometimes detained — a practice that has since vanished.
“The Taliban may control Afghan territory, but their inaction against terrorism is costing both nations,” Sadiq concluded, asserting that future diplomatic engagement hinges on Kabul’s willingness to dismantle TTP sanctuaries and prevent Afghan soil from being used for attacks on Pakistan.
