The ecosystem of terror: How the TTP grew strong under Taliban patronage
File photo: a view of eastern Kabul — a photograph of the city at the centre of this argument, not of any militant activity.
Dr Raashid Wali Janjua makes a stark argument in his Dawn column “Enabling terrorism”: terrorism in Afghanistan is no longer a series of incidents — it has become a self-sustaining system, one that generates its own money, weapons and sanctuary.
The Doha pledges, and the retreat from them
According to Janjua, after the 2021 US withdrawal the Taliban reneged on their Doha pledges. Groups including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan were given sanctuary, jailed militants were freed, and an illicit economy of narcotics, smuggling and extortion gave the system its financial base.
Numbers that carry the argument
The column points to more than 20 terrorist entities operating under Taliban patronage, and $7.12 billion of abandoned US and NATO weaponry flowing to the TTP and the BLA. Janjua notes that SIGAR and the UN Security Council have confirmed this — Pakistani forces had recovered 293 US-made weapons by 2025.
The world’s attention is elsewhere
The most troubling point is that this ecosystem is now being exported beyond the region, while world attention stays fixed on Ukraine and the Middle East. Janjua’s warning is plain: the system growing in Afghanistan today may be one the world pays for tomorrow.
This analysis is based on Dr Raashid Wali Janjua’s column “Enabling terrorism” (Dawn, 7 November 2026).
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/2042775/enabling-terrorism
