Atif Khan hit with PKR 8 m extortion demand by TTP

Senior provincial minister KP Atif Khan has been told to cough up the money within three days or pay with his life.

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: Authentic voices of the citizenry of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been speaking of extortion activities by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for some time now, but the government was in denial. A senior provincial minister has now reportedly received an extortion note from the Mardan chapter of the militant organisation.

Handwritten in Urdu on the TTP’s distinctive letterhead pad, the purported note doing the rounds of the social media is addressed to Atif Khan, a senior provincial minister of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Dated October 17, 2022, it demands the minister to pay up PKR 8 million within three days or pay with his life.

The note opens by saying the minister should know from the letterhead pad who the letter is from and what they want.

“Dear sir, we know you very closely and we have all your data and records with us because you are on the wanted list of TTP Mardan, and now your turn has arrived”, says the missive. “To be removed from this list, you have to meet our demand or pay with your life.”

It then demands PKR 8 million in extortion, and seeks the minister’s response within three days.

Although believed to be operationally independent, the TTP are an ideological offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, who rose to power in Kabul last August. They have been holed up in Afghanistan since their flight ahead of the Pakistani armed forces.

Over the last several months, the militants have been reportedly returning to their native lands in the province, although the government has sought to play down any such development. There has been no clarity as to who authorised them to return and under what conditions.

Poverty is said to be a key reason for their eagerness to return home in the wake of Afghanistan’s economy falling on hard times since their ideological brethren won control of the country, attracting sanctions that paralysed the country’s financial system.

Nobody should, therefore, be surprised that their return has been followed by widespread reports of extortion activities by their cohorts to meet their operational expenses as well as to feed their families.