Islamabad – The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has taken a new and very dangerous approach of using mosques and madrasas as their training grounds, a move that security experts believe is aimed at taking advantage of religious sanctity at the expense of life and death in civilian areas.
The creation and training of militants in sophisticated technology such as drones has brought serious concerns to security agencies and experts who caution of a new era of asymmetric wars.
A viral social media video emerged as an eye-opener to the new TTP approach; it allegedly depicts young men being given formal training on the use of drones within a mosque. Security sources claim that the group is using these religious institutions to train its members so that they can continue to operate in the population without being noticed by the security forces.
A Violation of Religious Sanctity and a Threat to Civilians
The two-fold nature of the menace by this new strategy is emphasized by security reports and expert analysis. Experts have argued that using mosques and madrasas in military operations is not only an affront to the sanctity of these religious sanctuaries, but it is also a direct threat to the lives of civilians.
TTP elements are reportedly conducting operations using religious sites and residential areas as cover, even as they are also using women and children as human shields. This change of strategy is meant to make the provisions of security forces a multidimensional and ethically ambiguous battlefield.
The new strategy is timed when there is increased terrorist activity within the country. According to a report published by the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies, terrorism incidents in Pakistan increased by 35 percent in 2025.
Most of these attacks have been attributed to the outlawed TTP that has killed dozens of security forces and civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan this year alone.
Religious and State-Level Response
Amid these new developments, there is an urgent call for action from religious and state authorities. Security authorities are highlighting that the trend of using religious seminaries as military bases is a serious menace that must be dealt with by all means necessary.
Religious leaders are being called upon by the experts to ensure that their platforms are not being used to promote terrorism, and they are also seeking the issuance of a clear fatwa- a religious decree- to denounce such practices.
This call to action finds backing in an already established precedent by the religious community in the country. Hundreds of scholars representing different schools of thought have already issued statements under the banner of the Paigham Pakistan initiative, stating that terrorism and any activities against the Pakistani armed forces are haram or forbidden in Islam. This is a strong theological and moral base of a clear condemnation of the new strategy of the TTP in this unanimous decree.
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