Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said the resettlement of TTP fighters in Pakistan was the strategy of Imran Khan and his government, which also had the support of the then establishment, but this effort has failed.

Khawaja Asif made the statement in an interview with the Voice of America Afghan Service. The interview was translated and published by the VOA Urdu.

Asif said Islamabad has good relations with the ruling Taliban leaders in Kabul, but they have not been able to stop the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan from using their territory for attacks on Pakistan.

He said that a ‘comradery’ existed between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP because they have been fighting together against NATO for 20 years, but it seems that the Afghan Taliban were now distancing themselves from the TTP.

Regarding the protests against the TTP by people in erstwhile tribal districts and other cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the defense minister admitted that the people are clearly refusing to live with the TTP and it is good that the protesters were not armed.

Last week, Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) vowed to fight terrorists and said that the recent spate of terror attacks was the consequence of a “soft corner” for the TTP militants a “thoughtless policy” towards them. This was seen as a reference to the Imran Khan government’s plan for the resettlement of the TTP fighter. Khan has spoken about the plan in his TV appearances.

In response to a question about the NSC statement, Khawaja Asif revealed that the former establishment backed the plans.

He said that “the Taliban were brought back under a program. Imran Khan has been signaling throughout his political career that he is an ideological supporter of the Taliban. The international media called him ‘Taliban Khan’ on some occasions.”

The minister said that he believed that the Afghan Taliban were distancing themselves from the TTP, but due to the fact that they have fought together against NATO in the past, a comradery’ existed between them.

“According to my information about the TTP militants, 78,000 of them have been involved in the 20/22 year war with the Afghan Taliban against NATO forces. From this point of view, there is a ‘comradery’ between the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban which was also seen from their words in the meetings with the Taliban that they are not in a position to oppose them but they also want to help Pakistan. “

Khawaja Asif said that the people of TTP also have advanced equipment left by the United States inside Afghanistan. He accused India of helping the Taliban even today.

“The Taliban have equipment left by the US inside Afghanistan, including night vision goggles. They are also getting such devices from some other countries. People who do not have good relations with Pakistan, like India, to name a few, have been helping the [TTP] in the past through their consulates inside Afghanistan, we have also provided evidence to the international community, now they are helping the [TTP].”