ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday welcomed the designation of Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as global terrorist by the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee on its ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.

"The sanctions are being implemented by Pakistan in compliance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and we hope that other countries will also follow suit," Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said.

She said that the TTP was already a UN-designated terrorist organization and was responsible for numerous terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. She said that Pakistan had defeated TTP through comprehensive security operations in the country. However, the TTP continues to operate from outside Pakistan's borders with support from its third-country facilitators, she asserted.

"Pakistan will continue to pursue its policy of fighting against those involved in participating, financing, planning, facilitating and perpetrating terrorism," she added.

The United States also welcomed the UNSC decision of designating the TTP's terrorist leader, saying that the outlawed terror outfit was responsible for many deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

"Welcome news that the UN has added Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Noor Wali Mehsud to its ISIL & AQ sanctions list. TTP is responsible for many deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The United States domestically designated Noor Wali as a terrorist in September 2019," said United States Department of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in a statement on Twitter. Noor Wali, also known as Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, was named the chief of the outlawed TTP in June 2018 following the killing of its leader Mullah Fazlullah.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020