Albatross
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Yeah, a little hard to argue that when the NDS was caught red-handed engaging with the TTP second in command by the US:
The capture of Latif Mehsud proved to be an embarrassment for the Afghans, and a vindication for Pakistan, which has long complained that the Pakistani Taliban – called the Tehrik -e-Taliban (TTP) – receives support from Karzai’s government. Afghanistan and the United States, for their part, have laid the blame for a 12-year insurgency at Pakistan’s feet, saying its intelligence agencies support the most effective insurgency group, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Latif Mehsud was a close confidant of Qari Hussain, who was one of the candidates to take over the TTP after the killing of its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, by an American drone strike in 2009. When Hussain was similarly eliminated in October 2010, Latif took over as the TTP’s second in command, operating under its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud. (The two Mehsuds are from the same tribe, but not closely related.) Latif’s capture provided the intelligence the U.S. needed to kill Hakimullah, in a drone strike just a few weeks later.
Latif spent much of his time since 2010 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it is believed he was a conduit for funding to the TTP. It now appears some of that funding might have come from Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
On October 5, Latif was being taken by Afghan officials to a meeting with agents from the NDS when American special forces stopped his convoy, taking Latif to Bagram, where the U.S. runs a prison of its own.
Afghanistan-Pakistan: The Covert War | The Diplomat
Afghan journalists in the border provinces say Pakistani militants have been given free reign.
“Afghan intelligence and other security officials do not touch Pakistani militants even if they pass security check posts,” an Afghan journalist told The Express Tribune by phone on the condition of anonymity.
The role of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency has been called into question with the National Directorate of Security (NDS) recently confirming that it was a US drone strike that killed several Pakistani militants affiliated with Da’esh in Nangarhar. And on Friday, a former NDS chief Asadullah Khalid tweeted a link to Mansoor’s video on the Badhaber attack, describing the slain attackers as ‘martyrs’. Interestingly, he later disowned and deleted the tweet from his handle saying his account had been hacked.
The link between the TTP and NDS is not new, with the relationship being exposed when spokesperson for former Afghan president Hamid Karzai described senior TTP leader Latif Mehsud as a ‘major asset’ of the Afghan government. The statement had been issued after American forces in October 2013 recovered Mehsud from a car full of Afghan intelligence agents. An angry Karzai had condemned the arrest as “a challenge to Afghan sovereignty”.
TTP bases in Afghanistan: Evidence mounts on Afghan origin of Badhaber attack - The Express Tribune
I am sure India spent quite good money to make sure RAW's name is not mentioned anywhere in this Diplomat article but we all know NDS and RAW are operating as one unit against Pakistan via Afghanistan.
@jaunty
I hope you wont run now with your tail in your ....