TTP's open threat to Pakistan's Asim Munir: 'Fight us if you've had your mother's milk'

Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Amid simmering tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has sent out an open threat to Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

In a string of videos released by the TTP, featuring one of their top commanders, Munir was threatened to show up on the battlefield and to avoid sending the Pakistani army soldiers to get killed, NDTV reported.

According to a report by NDTV, in one clip, a senior TTP figure identified by Pakistani officials as Commander Kazim appears on camera and says, "Face us if you are a man. Fight us if you have had your mother's milk".

The Pakistani authorities had announced a reward of 10 crore Pakistani rupees (PKR) for information leading to the capture of Kazim on October 21.

The videos, released by TTP, include battlefield footage of an October 8 ambush in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram, in which the TTP claims 22 Pakistani soldiers were killed and shows captured ammunition and vehicles. Although, Pakistan's official accounts have so far recorded fewer casualties: the army acknowledged 11 soldiers killed in the attack.

Afghanistan-Pakistan Truce

After days of cross-border shelling, air strikes and tit-for-tat exchanges that cost civilian lives on both sides, Pakistan and the Taliban-led authorities in Kabul agreed to an immediate ceasefire mediated by Qatar and Turkey in mid-October. The ceasefire was announced publicly in Doha and framed as a necessary step to stop the escalation along the porous Durand Line.

However, Islamabad has mentioned that the truce will hold only if Afghanistan cracks down on armed groups that operate from Afghan soil in a clear reference to the TTP.