New York: Denmark has warned the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of the “serious threat” posed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in South and Central Asia, stating that the group continues to receive “logistical and substantial support” from Afghanistan’s de facto authorities.
Speaking as chair of the UNSC’s ISIL (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee during a briefing in New York on Wednesday, Denmark’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Sandra Jensen Landi, highlighted growing concerns over the presence and activities of TTP militants in Afghanistan.
The presence of TTP fighters across the border has long been a contentious issue between Pakistan and the Taliban administration in Kabul. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Islamabad has accused the group of sheltering thousands of TTP militants responsible for escalating attacks in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Landi told the Security Council that the TTP, with an estimated strength of 6,000 fighters, poses a significant regional threat. “The TTP has conducted numerous high-profile attacks in Pakistan from Afghan soil, some of which incurred mass casualties,” she said.
Her briefing also outlined global trends in terrorism, drawing on assessments from the UN’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. She said that ISIL (Daesh), Al-Qaeda and their affiliates remain active and geographically dispersed, with Africa now witnessing the highest intensity of attacks.
Landi noted that ISIL-Khorasan (ISIL-K), operating in Afghanistan, remains among the most dangerous groups in the region, with at least 2,000 fighters under its current leadership. The group continues to target Shia communities, Afghan authorities, and foreign nationals.
Highlighting Al-Qaeda’s weakened central leadership, she said several of its affiliates including groups operating in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula were exploiting local conflicts, grievances, and emerging technologies to expand their influence.
Following Denmark’s briefing, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Usman Jadoon, addressed the council, warning that terrorism continued to evolve amid rapid technological change and unresolved global conflicts.
Jadoon said Pakistan had paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism, citing more than 80,000 casualties and massive economic losses, while also claiming that Al-Qaeda had been largely dismantled through Pakistan’s efforts.
He accused militant groups such as ISIL-K, the TTP, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), and the Majeed Brigade of operating from Afghanistan “under the patronage of their hosts and backed by our principal adversary and net destabiliser in the region”.
Jadoon urged that the UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Regime be strengthened to reflect current threats and expanded to include individuals and groups irrespective of nationality, religion, or ethnicity. He also called for fair and impartial handling of all listing and delisting proposals and said the UN must develop tools to designate violent far-right, xenophobic, ultra-nationalist, and Islamophobic groups worldwide.
