Formerly a war, it is now a low-level insurgency as of 2017, as per data.

Amid the South Asian country?s ongoing efforts to fencing 2,600 km long Pakistan-Afghanistan border in order to capitalize on gains that it has made against the insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan has been confronting with renewed threat of terrorism since the fall of Kabul in August 2021 as TTP has been injected with fresh dose of strength due to the victory of Taliban in Afghanistan.

According to reports, the fresh recruits, easy access to US made weapons, and a sanctuary under the shadow of Afghan Taliban have once again bolstered the TTP to again target Pakistan, and as a result, the country suffered 13 suicide attacks by the end of 2022.

After negotiations in 2022, the TTP and the government announced a ceasefire in June 2022.?However, the TTP, in November 2022, renounced the ceasefire and called for nationwide attacks against Pakistan.

Pakistan?s National Security Committee under leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on April 7, 2023 decided to launch a new military operation to root out insurgency posing threats to its western regions.

Local media reported, citing allegations raised by the oppositions, that the Pakistani government in the Centre has been punishing the people of KP, which is populated by a large variety of tribes, sub-tribes, and clans, with an aim to take revenge against the insurgency-hit province, still being ruled by opposition PTI.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, Khyber is one of seven districts previously known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a region on the border with Afghanistan that was governed under the Frontier Crimes Regulation and not Pakistani laws from 1947 till 2018.

The country?s national law-enforcement agencies were not able to operate in the region as Pakistani laws did not apply in FATA, and violence and armed groups were able to thrive for years.

In 2018, Pak federal government merged the tribal areas of FATA with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to gain control over the tribal populated region.

(islamkhabar.com)