Pakistan Journal of Terrorism Research

The Transformation of TTP: Rise, Fall and Resurgence

Abdul Basit — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Following Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a network of anti-Pakistan militant groups, has emerged as the main security challenge for Pakistan and a major bone of contention with the Taliban regime. Contrary to Pakistan’s wishful thinking, the Taliban termed TTP’s militancy as Pakistan’s internal matter and refused to take any meaningful action except facilitating negotiations. Pakistan’s two short-lived peace deals (November-December 2021 and June-October 2022) midwifed by the Taliban, collapsed due to TTP’s reluctance to disarm itself, abide by Pakistan’s constitutional framework and pursue its ideological goals through political means instead of violence. Since its resurgence, TTP has recreated its foothold in the Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) and undermined state’s writ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s southern districts. Before its reemergence, the group suffered significant leadership and organisational losses, leaving it weak, in the wake of the military operations Zarb-e-Azab in 2014 and Radd-ul-Fasad in 2017. Under the Taliban’s protection, the militant group has reinvented itself by imitating the Taliban’s insurgency model and restructuring its organisation, revamping the strategic communication through improved propaganda capabilities and switching from indiscriminate to discriminate targeting strategy and forging cooperation through mergers and alliances. Against this backdrop, this paper chronologically examines the emergence, rise, downfall and resurgence of TTP, using lifecycles theories of terrorist groups and conceptual literature on how terrorism ends, specifically the work of Dipak K. Gupta and Martha Crenshaw.

Why Understanding Terrorism as a Process is Indispensable?

Muhammad Feyyaz — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This contribution explores a less pondered puzzle in the study of political violence, specifically the imperviousness of terrorism to resolution. It particularly asks why terrorism reemerges in contexts where it is considered eradicated, or why armed groups keep fighting against the odds of winning. Or for that matter, why do many terrorist campaigns transform into broader insurgencies rather than non-violent political struggles? Put simply, why does terrorism persist despite sustained efforts against it? Among a range of other important causes, the central thesis of this article is that the flawed anatomy of counterterrorism endeavours saliently accounts for this anomaly. It argues that the countervailing efforts can become substantially more holistic, hence effective if the terroristic phenomenon is understood by the concerned as a historically, spatially, culturally and contextually grounded process rather than an isolated coming-from-nowhere pariah. The article draws on multidisciplinary literature to identify a set of empirical processes, critically explains their dynamics and concludes with reflections on the implications of this research.

Exploiting Encrypted Networks: A CPM Analysis of Telegram's Role in Extremist Propaganda and Radicalization by Terrorist Organisations

Sabrina Sohail — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, Telegram has emerged as a significant digital platform for terrorist organisations looking for a safe and secure online medium to disseminate their propaganda and supplement operational coordination. The research paper explores the role of Telegram in facilitating the propagation of extremist ideologies, communication, and planning of terrorist activities. Using qualitative study and policy review, the paper seeks to highlight challenges related to the privacy policy of Telegram and its potential misuse by terrorist organisations. Utilizing Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, the paper demonstrates how encrypted communications enable terrorist organisations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate with minimal detection. The findings focus on the role of encryption in providing safe channels for terrorist groups to radicalize youth and spread extremism. This study also contributes to the growing body of literature on cyber-extremism by offering insights into the regulatory challenges of encrypted platforms and calls for the establishment of an internationally coordinated framework to mitigate extremist exploitation of digital communication tools like Telegram.

The Socio-Economic Impact of Violent Extremism on Women in Peshawar

Zulfiqar Ali — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The prevalence of Violent Extremism (VE) and its socioeconomic impact on women significantly threatens society and national security by destabilizing communities, promoting radicalization, and weakening social cohesion, particularly in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The legacies of the Soviet-Afghan War and the War on Terror have deepened societal fault lines marked by violence, political indifference, conservative traditions, and strong religious influences. Despite enhanced government efforts against VE, the specific challenges faced by women, who bear a disproportionate burden, remain largely overlooked. By using a mixed-methods approach and sequential explanatory design, this research focuses on the socio-economic impact of VE on women in Peshawar, examining how structural inequalities, lack of access to education, economic marginalization, and patriarchal norms contribute to their vulnerability. Additionally, women’s marginalization and economic disenfranchisement increase their vulnerability to recruitment by extremist groups—a critical and often underexamined issue in Pakistan. This vulnerability undermines societal structures and perpetuates cycles of extremism, hindering the state’s ability to achieve long-term stability in the region. The study proposes an "Integrated Resilience Framework (IRF)" with two key dimensions: Social and Institutional Measures, and Behavioral and Ideological Approaches. The IRF emphasizes empowering women through education, economic opportunities, and their inclusion in the decision-making process. By integrating these gender-sensitive strategies into the CVE policy framework, this research aims to reduce the impact of VE on women and strengthen their role as agents of societal resilience and positive change.

Media Exposure to Terrorism and Post-Traumatic Stress in Adolescents: Role of Gender and Geographic Location

Sanam Younis, Dr. Humaira Jami — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The terrorist attack on the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar on December 16, 2014, received extensive coverage on both electronic and social media, raising concerns about its psychological impact on adolescents. Based on the sample of 716 adolescents (aged 12 to 17 years), this study aims to investigate the relationship between Media Exposure to Terrorism (METT) and adolescents’ mental health keeping in view the role of gender and geographic location. METT has been assessed using an indigenously developed METT scale, while adolescents' mental health has been evaluated with the Child Revised Impact Event Scale, which measures intrusion and avoidance symptoms. Results indicate that METT is positively related to intrusion symptoms but has shown a non-significant relationship with avoidance symptoms. Gender significantly moderates the relationship between METT and intrusion symptoms, where female adolescents exhibit a stronger association between media exposure and intrusion symptoms as compared to male counterparts. Furthermore, in the case of regional proximity to the attack site, adolescents from Punjab have exhibited the highest intrusion symptoms as a result of METT whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the region closest to the attack, exhibited low intrusion symptoms. These findings suggest that increased distance from the epicentre of the attack has a significant relationship with intrusion symptoms, emphasizing the role of situational factors in adolescents' psychological responses to METT. This study highlights the need for region and gender-specific interventions to mitigate the mental health impact of terrorism-related media exposure on adolescents.