General: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (Students' Movement of Pakistan) is the main
Taliban militant umbrella group in
Pakistan primarily in
conflict with the central government. Among the group's stated objectives are resistance against the Pakistani army, enforcement of
sharia and unification against
NATO forces in
Afghanistan. The TTP began to form when in 2002 the Pakistani military conducted incursions into the tribal areas to combat foreign militants spilling across the Afghan border.Many of the Pakistani Taliban are veterans of the fighting in Afghanistan, where they supported the fight against foreigners by providing soldiers, training and logistics. [ While the Pakistani military concentrated on the Afghan Taliban, small militant tribes opposed to the federal government's control began to coordinate closely. In 2004, the groups started negotiations with Islamabad that effectively established their authority in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). By this time, the militants had killed around 200 rival tribal elders in the region and further consolidated control. In December 2007 the group officially formed under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud On August 25, 2008 Pakistan banned the group, froze its bank accounts and assets, and barred it from media appearances.