Pakistan bans Pashtun rights group and accuses it of supporting Pakistani Taliban

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities have banned a prominent organization advocating for the rights of the Pashtun ethnic group and barred it from holding a rally in the restive northwest on charges of working against the interests of Pakistan, officials said Wednesday.

Pakistan issued a notice this week banning the Pashtun Protection Movement after concluding that it supports the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on civilians and security forces in recent years, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tatar.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is a separate group from and a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

The Pashtun Protection Movement, or PTM, denies the charges. The group was founded in 2014 after its leaders accused the military and local police of abuses in the war on terror Since then, the group has waged a campaign to force the military to leave the former tribal regions in the northwest bordering Afghanistan.

The military and the government have denied the allegation from PTM, saying the operations are carried out only against insurgents.

PTM has also repeatedly accused Pakistan’s security forces of illegally detaining its members.

Manzoor Pashteen, who heads the group, said it is still determined to hold a meeting of elders on Friday in Regi, a former militant stronghold in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.