Overview

Mufti Hazrat Deroji, also known as Qari Amjad, is the U.S.-designated deputy emir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Given Amjad’s leadership role in the TTP, the U.S. Department of State designated Amjad as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on November 30, 2022.“Terrorist Designation of AQIS and TTP Leaders,” U.S. Department of State, December 1, 2022, https://www.state.gov/terrorist-designation-of-aqis-and-ttp-leaders.

Established in December 2007, the TTP is a conglomerate of around 40 tribal and non-tribal Pakistani militant groups fighting against the state of Pakistan, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), and U.S.-led coalition forces. A number of TTP members fought in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and as of 2022, TTP still maintains close ties to both organizations.Amira Jadoon, The Evolution and Potential Resurgence of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2021), 4, https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/sr_494-the_evolution_and_potential_resurgence_of_the_tehrik_i_taliban_pakistan.pdf; “Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan,” Mapping Militant Organizations, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, last modified July 2018, 12, https://stanford.app.box.com/s/38mt4uo1u67qwfc8rd3gm9tgy7bc5bai; “Letter dated 25 May 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee Established pursuant to Resolution 1988 (2011) addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, May 26, 2022, https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3975071?ln=en#record-files-collapse-header. At the head of the TTP is its emir Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, who is supported by three deputy emirs—Amjad, Omar Khalid Khurasani, and Mawlawi Faqir Mohammad.“Letter dated 25 May 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee Established pursuant to Resolution 1988 (2011) addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, May 26, 2022, https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3975071?ln=en#record-files-collapse-header; Y. Carmon and Tufail Ahmad, “According To UN Report, Afghan Taliban Continue To Sponsor Al-Qaeda And Other Foreign Jihadi Organizations Such As Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), And East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM),” The Middle East Media Research Institute, June 17, 2022, https://www.memri.org/reports/according-un-report-afghan-taliban-continue-sponsor-al-qaeda-and-other-foreign-jihadi.Amjad presumably has been TTP’s deputy emir since the group’s founding.

On November 28, 2022, the TTP announced that its leadership has decided to end a ceasefire with Pakistan’s government. The militant group announced an indefinite ceasefire with Islamabad on June 2, 2022, but in a TTP statement, the group claimed that the Pakistani military is increasing the number of attacks against the group, particularly in the Lakki Marwat district of Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the same statement, the TTP also encouraged their fighters to launch retaliatory attacks against Islamabad.“Taliban militants in Pakistan end ceasefire with government – spokesman,” Reuters, November 28, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-militants-pakistan-end-ceasefire-with-government-spokesman-2022-11-28; Abid Hussain, “Pakistan Taliban ends ceasefire with gov’t, threatens new attacks,” Al Jazeera, November 28, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/28/pakistan-taliban-ends-ceasefire-with-govt-threatens-new-attacks.

Shortly after the TTP’s declaration of renewing attacks, on November 30, 2022, the U.S. Department of State designated Amjad as an SDGT for his role in the organization. According to the state department, Amjad’s 15-year campaign of violence has also escalated since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021.“Terrorist Designation of AQIS and TTP Leaders,” U.S. Department of State, December 1, 2022, https://www.state.gov/terrorist-designation-of-aqis-and-ttp-leaders.