PESHAWAR: Pakistani Taliban have rejected media reports that they were sending fighters to Syria, saying some have gone there independently but the movement’s focus remained on Pakistan.
In recent days, some media reports have claimed that scores or even hundreds of Pakistani Taliban have flocked to Syria to fight the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and that they have set up camps in Syria.
“There is no reality in these reports, we have far better targets in the region, Nato troops headed by the Americans are present in Afghanistan,” a senior commander who sits on the shura of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said on condition of anonymity.
He said there was no tactical shift and no decision had been made to send forces to Syria.
“We are already in a war with Pakistani troops. We support the mujahideen’s struggle in Syria but in our opinion, we have a lot more to do here in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
“The great evil (America) is here in Afghanistan, troops from 30 kafir (non-believer) countries are attacking innocent people in Afghanistan, so Bashar al-Assad is not that important for us,” the TTP commander said.
The TTP commander further said “Obama is the big evil, Americans are a much bigger evil for us. The Taliban shura has never discussed sending mujahideen to Syria.”
