What is Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, the group that attacked Pakistan air force base?

Pakistan’s Mianwali air force base was attacked by heavily-armed terrorists in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Multiple planes in the facility were destroyed in the attack, according to the Pakistani military’s media wing.

It was, however, a failed operation, as the Inter Services Public Relations said that the terrorists were neutralised before they could enter the base.

Taliban-linked Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), which has been involved in acts of terrorism against security forces, claimed responsibility for the attack.

As per the ISPR statement, the recent attack follows two separate attacks on security forces in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region last week.

Here’s all we know about the attack and the militant group.

The attack

The terrorists reportedly climbed the fenced walls using ladders to enter the high-security air base located in Punjab province, reported Reuters.

Videos of an alleged burning Pakistani military aircraft were making the rounds on social media.

The DG-ISPR issuing a statement said, “On 4 November 2023, in the early hours of the day, Mianwali Training Air Base of Pakistan Air Force came under a failed terrorist attack. Due to the swift and effective response by the troops, it has been foiled and thwarted, ensuring the safety and security of personnel and assets.”

A major attack is underway at Mianwali's airbase in Pakistan’s Punjab province, with multiple suicide bombers involved, says Mullah Muhammad Qasim, the spokesperson for Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) pic.twitter.com/BdWBMkECDi

— Naimat Khan (@NKMalazai) November 4, 2023

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According to CNN-News18, several fighter planes have been damaged in the attack.

The Pakistani army claimed in a press release that they killed three terrorists “even before they could enter the base,” and have arrested three other terrorists.

“Demonstrating exceptional courage and timely response, three terrorists were neutralized even before they could enter the base while remaining three terrorists have been cornered/isolated due to timely and effective response by the troops. However, during the attack, some damage to three already grounded aircraft and a fuel bowser also occurred,” the statement read.

The region will soon be secured, according to the officials, who stated that a “joint clearance and combing operation” is in its final stages.

#BREAKING #URGENT

Pakistan airbase Miyanwali under attack.

Reports said Tehreek-e-Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack and the attackers were eliminated in the clearing operation by the Army.

Pak Air Force base in Nothern Pakistan's Mianwali reportedly came under a… pic.twitter.com/zezzVbS2ir

— Brian’s Breaking News and Intel (@intelFromBrian) November 4, 2023

About the Pakistan-based TJP group

Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan is a relatively new militant group that announced its formation on 24 February this year, according to Memri.org, a jihad and terrorism threat monitor. The group is believed to be mainly active in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

It was founded with the intention of waging jihad against Pakistan in order to turn it into an Islamic state and impose a theocratic version of sharia law akin to what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.

Because of TJP’s jihadi ideology, analysts believe that the parent organisation from which TJP split is Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Nonetheless, a story from the Eurasian Times claims that the militants from Balochistan have refrained from uniting with the TTP, who are viewed as unreliable allies.

Mullah Muhammad Qasim, the spokesperson for the TJP, declared on social media in February that Maulana Abdullah Yaghistani is the group’s leader.

According to The Jamestown Foundation, a global research and analysis website, it is believed that Yaghistani attended Jamia Farooqia, a well-known Deobandi seminary in Karachi.

It also cited The Khorasan Diary as claiming that up until the US withdrawal in 2021, he had fought alongside NATO and American forces in Afghanistan.

Its objectives

In a statement released on 24 February, the group outlined its objectives by mentioning “Sheikh-ul-Hind” as an inspiration for their ideology. According to Memri, it is a title used for Indian Islamic scholar Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, whom the British colonial rulers jailed in Malta after he launched a jihadi movement. The militants believe the movement of Sheikh-ul-Hind was destroyed after Pakistan’s independence.

It declared, according to Memri, “We have reached the conclusion that except through armed jihad, the enforcement of an Islamic system is not possible in Pakistan. For the achievement of this objective, for the time being hundreds of mujahideen and dozens of fidayan (martyrdom-seekers) of Islam are ever-ready to sacrifice with money and body… Our targets are the security institutions thrust on Pakistan who are our opponents in this anti-Sharia system.”

According to The James Foundation, the spokesperson said, “after achieving success in Afghanistan, we have extended our struggle into Pakistan” and the group’s struggle is for “the continuation of the Silk Letter Movement,” a Deobandi movement for independence from British rule.

Attacks claimed by the group

According to Hindu Post, following its inception, TJP claimed to have killed two Pakistani security personnel in Chaman, a border town in Balochistan close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Pakistan-based Dawn reported on 6 March, a suicide bomber crashed his motorbike into a security van in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, killing nine paramilitary security personnel and injuring 13 others.

At least a dozen people, including police officers, were killed and 57 others were injured in a suicide attack that took place inside the Kabal police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat on 25 April, according to Memri.

Two days later, a motorcycle-borne suicide bomber exploded the bomb near a security forces post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district, killing three soldiers, according to The James Foundation which cited Express Tribune.

On 12 May, militants attacked a Frontier Corps, a government-aligned paramilitary force, camp in the Muslim Bagh area, Balochistan, killing at least 12 security personnel.

Following a “dastardly attack” on 12 July on Zhob garrison in the northern part of Balochistan, security forces retaliated, killing five militants and nine army soldiers.

According to Reuters, a suicide bombing killed at least 45 people at a political rally on 30 July.

Meanwhile, in October, the Pakistan Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) announced that, in the first nine months this year, at least 386 security personnel have been lost by Pakistani armed personnel to terror assaults, which is an eight-year high, reported News18.

In the third quarter of 2023, over 190 terrorist acts and counterterrorism operations resulted in at least 445 fatalities and 440 injuries.

With inputs from agencies