Afghan Taliban deny joining hands with TTP

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban have rejected reports that they have made an alliance with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and made it clear that they don’t establish links or make alliances with groups operating outside Afghanistan.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stressed that it wasn’t the policy of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to interfere in the affairs of other countries or carry out joint activities with any group outside Afghanistan. “We do not have any alliance with the Pakistani Taliban,” he maintained while talking to the Afghan Islamic Press.
The Afghan Taliban spokesman was asked to comment on the statement earlier emailed by the TTP to the media organisations that it had joined hands with the Afghan Taliban movement for carrying out joint activities. The email was sent by Mohammad Khorasani, the Maulana Fazlullah-led TTP. This was the first time the TTP spokesman had sent an email to journalists and this created some confusion whether it his email or not. In the past, the TTP spokesman used to make phone calls to journalists mostly using Afghan SIMs.
The email by Mohammad Khorasani also suggested that the leaders of TTP and Afghan Taliban had decided to operate under one flag and conduct joint training programmes.It is pertinent to mention that the TTP headed by Maulana Fazlullah has yet to formally pledge allegiance to the new Afghan Taliban leader Mulla Akhtar Mansour, who replaced the late Taliban supreme head Mulla Omar in late July.