PakPulse Intel

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A few days ago, the Fatwa Council (Darul Ifta) of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued an 11-page response , signed by five members of the TTP office, to an inquiry from the group’s Leadership Council. The inquiry sought guidance on how TTP should deal with the conduct of various other militant factions operating alongside it in Pakistan.

According to the ruling, TTP identifies itself as the largest and most structured militant network in Pakistan and characterizes other factions as limited to specific tribal areas. The document notes that members of several of these smaller groups engage in activities harmful to civilians, such as extortion, targeted killings, intimidation, and other criminal acts, which, according to the inquiry, are damaging TTP’s reputation. The ruling claims some individuals were formerly part of TTP but, after facing internal disciplinary measures, left to join other militant groups while continuing the same behavior under a different name. Others, it states, were never affiliated with TTP and therefore lie outside its organizational control.

The ruling draws particular attention to issues reported in North Waziristan (associated with HGB) and Khyber (associated with TLIP). It also acknowledges that in several areas, individuals linked to TTP have been involved in similar offenses and that some local TTP commanders have shielded these individuals or shifted blame onto other factions. The document further refers to incidents of theft and banditry in regions where TTP claims significant influence, involving both current and former members.

The ruling also discusses an unnamed militant faction that portrays itself as a global, brotherhood-based movement. While TTP asserts that it has maintained a cooperative stance toward this faction, the ruling accuses the group of repeatedly spreading negative narratives about TTP, especially on social media, and alleges that its messaging resembles that of state security agencies. According to the document, this faction became largely inactive in Pakistan after 2014 but began publicly reasserting its presence around 2020, coinciding with TTP’s efforts to reorganize, while at the same time expressing increasing hostility toward TTP. (This description appears to refer to Al-Qaeda.)

The Leadership Council sought guidance on how to address both the individuals involved in such activities and the faction perceived as disruptive. In response, the Fatwa Council cites religious texts and concludes that individuals engaged in extortion, espionage, murder, violence, armed robbery, and theft fall under the category of causing "disorder". In areas where TTP claims exclusive authority, the ruling states that preventing these actions at the moment they occur falls under what it describes as internal 'defense'. However, it adds that any formal punishment must be authorized by the group’s Amir or Qazi.

In regions where another organized militant faction is active, and where the alleged offender either belongs to that faction or has defected from TTP to join it, the ruling states that responsibility for disciplinary action initially rests with that faction. If, after repeated requests, the other group fails to restrain the individual, TTP may attempt non-violent intervention under the principle of "enjoining good and forbidding wrong". The ruling states that execution or armed action in such cases is not permitted unless all non-violent measures fail and unless the conditions outlined earlier in the document are met.

Regarding the specific unnamed faction referenced in the original inquiry, the ruling advises maintaining close observation but avoiding confrontation unless the group’s actions pose a clear threat to life or property. It recommends addressing any misconduct through non-violent measures.

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