The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a united front of over 20 Taliban groups operating autonomously in different Pashtun tribal areas, was formed on December 14,2007, at a secret meeting held somewhere in South Waziristan, which was attended by 40 tribal leaders from the South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Aurakzai, Kurram, Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur tribal agencies of the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and from the districts of Swat, Buner, Dir, Malakand, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Kohat in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).The idea seems to be based on al-Qaeda's structure: a framework embracing autonomous internals that can support each other in a coordinated manner.
| The TTP was projected as a joint resistance movement with three objectives --first, to help the Taliban of Afghanistan in its operations against the US and other NATO forces in Afghan territory; second, to undertake defensive operations against the Pakistani security forces and third, the enforcement of sharia in the entire Pashtun tribal belt. |
In effect this puts them in the position of running a foreign policy independent of the central government: making war on a neighboring country and establishing their own legal system within their territory while keeping the Federales out. The two weak points in that policy are that 1.) no state can allow an internal group to tear off a chunk of its territory and run it independently. Another way of describing that is as seceding; and 2.) they can't really expect to hide behind the concept of Pak sovreignty while carrying on hostile operations against Afghanistan. If Pakistain doesn't bring them under control then Afghanistan and/or NATO/ISAF are perfectly justified under international norms to do it for them.
Baitullah Mehsud of South Waziristan was nominated as the Amir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan and Maulana Faqir Muhammad of Bajaur as the deputy Amirs. What brought them together was what they perceived as the divide-and-rule tactics of the Pakistan Army, which was accused by them of ostensibly making peace overtures to some Taliban leaders while undertaking military operations against others. It was reportedly agreed at the meeting that while each local Taliban group would be free to undertake operations against the security forces depending on the local requirements, there would be no unilateral peace negotiations by any group with the Government or the Army. The meeting decided that peace negotiations, if any, would be undertaken only after approval by the shura of the TTP as a whole.