Militants belonging to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said they will now target local businesses, including listed firms, owned by Pakistan’s powerful army. The statement by the terrorist group loosely affiliated with Afghanistan Taliban on Sunday evening comes days after the two nations clashed at the border, Bloomberg reported.
TTP’s target include Fauji Cement Company Ltd., Askari Bank Ltd., Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd., Fauji Foods Ltd., Askari Cement Ltd., Askari Fuels, National Logistic Cell, Frontier Works Organization, Pakistan Ordnance Factory, Fauji Foundation, the Defence Housing Authority and all the institutions that have military’s shares in them.
The main source of strength for the Pakistan Army “is its sources of income,” said TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani in the statement.
Besides vowing to target the army’s businesses, the TTP has set a three-month deadline for investors holding shares in military-owned companies to sell those and avoid potential losses.
“The shopkeepers who are selling military products are given two months to finish their available stock and buy alternative products,” Khorasani said.
Late last month, Kabul said it hit “several points” including military posts inside Pakistan in retaliation for the deadly airstrikes allegedly carried out by Pakistan against Afghanistan on December 24.
Islamabad has accused Kabul of allowing TTP militants to use Afghanistan as a base for carrying out attacks on Pakistan. Kabul denies the claims.
Terrorism has surged in Pakistan and the threat has increased after the Taliban coming to power in Afghanistan as it is said to have emboldened TTP to step up its attacks on Pakistan’s security forces.
In a separate statement, the militants said they killed 1,284 security personnel in hundreds of attacks carried out throughout Pakistan last year.
Pakistan’s army spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry last month said it killed more than 900 terrorists in 2024, the most in past five years, including “high-value targets” and suicide bombers from neighboring Afghanistan.
