SUMMARY
The Taleban Movement of Pakistan, TTP, is an umbrella organization covering loosely united militant groups in the tribal areas of Pakistan. TTP is an abbreviation for the organization’s full name Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Sometimes the organization is also referred to as TTiP.
TTP was formally established on 14 December 2007 when the group announced its formation and stated its political goals. The organization was formed as an alliance of militant commanders, many of which had previously been critical against the Pakistan government, including the militant wing of the Pakistani rebel group Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM). They stated that their goals were to enforce Sharia law, unite against NATO forces in Afghanistan and perform defensive jihad against the Pakistan army. The government was given 10 days to stop military action in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) both in western Pakistan, close to the Afghan border. Since then, TTP has engaged the Pakistani military in battles primarily in northwestern Pakistan.
A consultative committee of 40 Taleban leaders, a so called shura, appointed Commander Baitullah Mehsud as leader of the organization when it was established in December 2007. Mehsud was a prominent militant leader from South Waziristan in NWFP. He was believed to command a force of 5000 militants and has stated that “only jihad can bring peace to the world”. Areas under Mehsud’s control were for several years a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and the Taleban.
On 5 August 2009 news agencies reported that Baitullah Mehsud had been killed during a US missile attack. TTP spokesmen denied the death of their leader, but more than two weeks later, on 25 August, they admitted that Mehsud had been severely injured in the attack and that he died from his injuries on 23 August. The new leader Hakimullah Mehsud led the group until he was killed in a US drone strike in 2013, followed by Fazlullah Hayat who was also killed in a US drone strike, in 2018. Since 2018, Noor Wali Mehsud has been serving as the group's fourth emir.
TTP has been involved in the intrastate, non-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
