The birthplace of Malala Yusufzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, has been shaken by Pakistan as thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the attack on a school bus on Monday that left the driver dead and injured a ten-year-old child. The protests are against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. The demonstrators urged that the government take action against the assailants and yearned for an end to the terror. The attack's perpetrator, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, has claimed responsibility, and according to the authorities, they are looking into the attack's motivation.

This is Malala Yousufzai's 2nd visit to Pakistan

Ten years after a Taliban assassination attempt on her life, Malala Yusuf Zai visited her native Pakistan on Tuesday to meet flood victims. This was only her second trip home since being flown to Britain for lifesaving treatment, and it coincided with peace demonstrations in her hometown where the TTP terror group is once more on the rise. Yusuzai was just 15 years old when she was killed by the Pakistan Taliban, a separate organisation with similar political views to the Afghan Taliban. The 2014 military crackdown put an end to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's year-long insurgency. However, since the Afghan Taliban retook control of Kabul last year, unrest has increased. In recent weeks, the TTP has taken credit for dozens of strikes, many of which targeted security personnel and anti-Taliban elders.

What is the TTP? The Pakistani Taliban are frequently referred to simply as TTP, which stands for Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, or the Taliban movement Pakistan in English. This may be slightly deceptive, though, given they are in fact Pakistan's opponents and the Tehreek-i-Taliban is a complicated organisation that includes more than just the more well-known Afghan Taliban. The two factions have frequently clashed in Pakistan.

Around twelve distinct Taliban factions active along the Pakistani border united in 2007 to establish the TTP under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud. As a result, they have used bases both inside Pakistan, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which straddles the border, as well as in the bordering areas of Afghanistan, close to the country's border with Pakistan. The TTP's larger beginnings date back to 2002. Following the US invasion of Afghanistan this year, a large number of jihadist organisations, including some linked to the Taliban, retreated into this border region.

However, the Pakistani army launched an offensive to push them out. This was interpreted by a number of the local tribes as an effort to subjugate them, and a full-scale conflict ensued. Al Qaeda previously supported the TTP and had a significant presence in this border region. In addition to Afghans who cross the border and native Pakistanis from Waziristan and the surrounding region, the TTP also recruits Arabs, Chechens, and Muslims from Central Asia. The US has frequently used drones and airstrikes to fight the TTP in this Pakistani border region. While the TTP and the Afghan Taliban share a name, a philosophy, and an adversary in the form of the US and NATO, the two organisations haven't always agreed on everything.

Their stance on Pakistan is where they diverge most. In the past, the ISI, Pakistan's secret service, helped the Taliban get started in Pakistan, where they were born. The Tehreek-i-Taliban's primary objective is to overthrow the Pakistani government and establish a new one from scratch. Mullah Omar, the head of the Afghan Taliban, asked the TTP to halt its attacks on the Pakistani government, which was aiding the Afghan Taliban, in 2008. In 2009, the two parties came to an agreement, and the TTP chose to support the Afghan Taliban in their battle against the expansion of American forces in Afghanistan. By the end of the year, however, arrangements had collapsed and violence had broken out between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP. It should be noted, however, that this fighting occurred in South Waziristan, which is inside the FATA region and may really have been caused by tribal conflicts between these factions. In this region, many of the various Taliban sects adhere to tribal boundaries. Therefore, it is not always easy to tell the difference between the Taliban from Pakistan and the Taliban from Afghanistan.

After Baitullah Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud took over the reins of the TTP

When a US drone attack also killed Baitullah Mehsud in 2010, there sparked a power struggle inside the TTP over who should take his successor. Ultimately, Hakimullah Mehsud was chosen. They declared they would carry out terrorist acts in cities in 2010 and attempted to do so at Times Square, but they were unsuccessful. The TTP was declared a terrorist organisation by the United States, and the same decision was made by the United Kingdom and Canada. The TTP threatened the Myanmar government in 2012 over its violent operations against the Rohingya, an Asian Muslim minority, but nothing came of these threats. The next year, in 2013, Hakimullah Mehsud was also killed by a drone strike, and there was more conflict with the Afghan Taliban, this time in Afghanistan's Kunar Province because they were using it as a safe haven for assaults against the Pakistani government.

They began negotiations with the Pakistani government in 2014, which prompted a number of split-off groups to declare their secession. But they would be back shortly. They nevertheless tainted the peace negotiations with a number of suicide bombings, and 2014 also marked the year of their most terrible attack, which claimed the lives of 149 people, predominantly children between the ages of 8 and 18. The victims were mostly between 8 and 18 years old. The Pakistani military increased its attempts to combat the group as a result. Omar Khorhasani, the attacker, was really put to death when the Taliban gained control of Kabul, claiming that the attacks on civilians were against Islam.

ISISK also entered the scene in 2014. Additionally, as I mentioned in my video, many of the founding commanders of ISISK were defections from TTP leaders. The ISI has frequently mentioned that they also received some assistance from the NDS, Afghanistan's secret service. After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, there were numerous concerns regarding the TTP's operating system. However, the TTP has continued its attacks, with the most recent one sparking anger and demonstrations throughout the region. What will the future hold? Time will only tell.

Who are the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan? Protests rock Northwestern Pakistan

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