Bangladeshi Militants in TTP of Pakistan a New Aspect of Pak-Afghan Confrontation

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 29 September 2025 Bangladeshi militants have joined TTP Main Points: 1. A Bangladeshi militant was killed in Kark in Kyhber Pakhtunkhwa. 2. Another Bangladeshi militant Zubair was killed in North Waziristan in April this year. 3. Bangladeshi militant Saifullah was injured in Pak strike in Paktika, Afghanistan. 4. One more Bangladeshi militant Ibn Taymiyyah was killed in Afghanistan. ----- Last month, the Russian ambassador in Pakistan had disclosed that 23000 foreign militants were present in Afghanistan. This had fuelled the speculation that the ISIS, Al Qaida and militants from central Asian Islamic countries like Tajikistan were present there but nobody had the idea that Bangladeshi militants had joined the terrorist organisations active in Pakistan' s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Now, the matter came to light after a Bangladeshi militant associated with the TTP was killed in an operation of the Pakistan 's security forces in Darsha Khel between Kark and Lucky Marwat bordering Afghanistan. After this incident, reports of more Bangladeshi militants who were killed or injured in Pakistani strikes recently emerged. A 21 year old Bangladeshi militant of TTP named Zubair was also killed in North Waziristan in April this year. Zubair had gone to perform Umrah and had joined the TTP upon his return in 2024. Previously, he was associated with the Tablighi Jamat. He was a part of the TTP squad based in Paktika, Afghanistan. According to media reports, all the 15 members of the squad were killed in a Pakistani strike in Paktika recently. Saifullah, a Bangladeshi militant was injured but his minor daughter was killed in the strike along with other Bangladeshi militants Ibn Taymiyyah and Shamin Mahfooz. Another Bangladeshi militant Abrar was killed in Mianwali in Pakistan. According to Saifullah, 8 Bangladeshi militants were present in TTP in 2024. According to media reports, Saifullah was earlier associated with the Bangladeshi militant organisation, an Al Qaida affiliate Jamatul Ansar Bangla, headed by Mullah Jasimuddin who was released from jailed after Muhammad Yunus' s interim government was established. Shamin Mahfooz was also a recruiter and coordinator in TTP. It is understood that Jamatul Ansar Bangla served as a recruiting and training agency for the TTP in Bangladesh. 2016 afterwards, reports of many missing youth, especially university and madrasa students emerged in Bangla media regularly. It was suspected that Shaikh Hasina government agencies were involved in the forced disappearances of the youth. Some of the students were indeed kidnapped by government agencies but in one case, they were found to be radicalised and had reappeared as militants after a few months of their disappearance. Five militants involved in the Holey Artisan Bakery blast in which 29 people had died were university students who had gone missing three months ago. Such disappearances were also reported in 2019 and 2020. Therefore, it became evident that Shaikh Hasina government was not involved in the disappearances of all the youth who went missing after 2016. They were actually radicalised by the militant organisations active in Bangladesh and sent to Afghanistan. After the ouster of Shaikh Hasina and the installation of the interim government headed by Mohammad Yunus, coordination between the militant organisations of Pakistan and Bangladesh became easier under the new agreements of defence and cultural exchanges and collaborations between Pakistan and Bangladesh. In November 24, the Pakistan government announced its scholarship programme for Bangladeshi students. Under this programme, 100 Bangladeshi students would be provided fully funded scholarship each year for the next five years to enable them to pursue higher education in top Pakistani universities. However, the recruitment of Bangladeshi youth in the TTP shows that Bangladeshi militant organisations have exploited the new political set up to radicalise the Bangla youth and send them to Afghanistan to fight in Pakistan for the TTP. According to the Bangladeshi militant Saifullah, a whole squad was headed by him in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Nangarhar have become the hotbed of militancy where the militants of ISIS, Al Qaida and TTP are provided shelter, training and stipends. The TTP leaders and commanders are provided houses, cars and security by the Afghan government. The Pakistan government claims to have given material proofs of all this to the Taliban government. Since, the militants involved in the Holey artisan bakery were all university students, the scholarship programme of the Pakistan government may be a safe platform for Bangladesh's militant organisations to push radicalised youth into Pakistan for militancy. The involvement of the Pakistani lobby inside Bangla army may not be ruled out in the recruitment of Bangla youth into the TTP or the ISIS. The Taliban claims that the ISIS Khorasan is based in Pakistan while Pakistan claims that IS-K operates from Afghanistan. The truth is that the ISIS operates both from Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Pakistan, the ISIS enjoys the support from the ISI and the Pakistan army as it fought along with Pak security forces against the Baloch rebels in Balochistan. In July this year, four ISIS militants were arrested by the Nigerian counterterrorism forces for supplying arms and giving training to Boko Haram. However, Mohammad Ahsani alias Anwar Tajik involved in 2022 Peshawar Imam Bargahs attack killing 60 people was killed in Mazar Sharif in Afghanistan. Thus, both the countries have harboured TTP, ISIS and Al Qaida terrorists for political objectives and the entire Pak-Afghan region has now become a terrorism hub for which more and more youth are needed. Therefore, youth from Bangladesh, Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries will be roped in by the militant organisations. Since Iran and Pakistan have sent back more than 30 lakh Afghan refugees from their land to Afghanistan, more displaced Afghan youth will be compelled to join militant organisations as Taliban government of Afghanistan cannot generate employment for this additional population. The Taliban government will not allow their girls and women to work for livelihood under their anti-women and anti-education policy. The economic crisis and political instability in Bangladesh will compel more Bangladeshi youth to embark on the path of militancy and head to Afghanistan and Pakistan because the Yunus government has not left the scope of economic growth for them. Therefore, Afghanistan and Pakistan are heading towards a graver crisis of civil disturbances and militancy in the times to come. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/bangladeshi-militants-ttp-pakistan-pak-afghan/d/137022 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism