New face of Pakistan’s Taliban

The militants who claimed responsibility for bombing a Lahore park on Easter Sunday belong to Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban which has embraced so-called Islamic State ideology


Sep 2014: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splits into two broad factions.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, led by Omar Khalid Khorasani,  attracts TTP commanders
from Charsadda, Swat, and Peshawar districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

Karachi

INDIA

ARABIAN SEA

Fed. Administered Tribal Areas

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

AFGHANISTAN

NORTH WAZIRISTAN

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN

BALUCHISTAN

MOHMAND Tribal area is headquarters of Jamaat- ur-Ahrar 

KHYBER

ORAKZAI

KURRAM

Kohat

Lakki Marwat

Dera Ismail Khan

PAKISTAN

CHITRAL

DIR

KOHISTAN

SWAT

BAJAUR

Shabqadar

Mardan

CHARSADDA

PESHAWAR

Rawalpindi

Islamabad

KASHMIR 

Line of Control 

PUNJAB

Lahore

50 miles 80km

Attacks claimed by Jamaat-ur-Ahrar

Jan 9, 2015, Rawalpindi: Eight people killed in bomb attack on Shi’ite mosque

Mar 15, Lahore: Twin church bombs kill 14 Christian worshippers

Dec 29, Mardan: Attack on government office kills 23 people

Feb 18, 2016, Mohmand: Two attacks on check posts kill nine military personnel

Mar 1, Mohmand: Roadside bomb targets convoy, killing two Pakistani employees of U.S. consulate

Mar 7, Shabqadar: Suicide bomber attacks court complex killing 17 people during morning rush hour

Mar 27, Lahore: Suicide bomber targets Christians celebrating Easter in park, killing at least 74, including 29 children and 10 women

Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat, Deccan Chronicle, Long War Journal

Picture: LPJ