The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released a video using a statement by Mufti Kifayatullah, a senior leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), to legitimize its armed struggle and acts of terrorism. The video attempts to portray Kifyatullah’s statement as an endorsement of TTP’s tactics by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of the JUI-F.

The statement, delivered on August 26, 2025, at a public gathering in the Shakai area of South Waziristan, has become a focal point of TTP propaganda, who claims it represents the JUI’s position on the matter. However, the party has not issued any statement to the effect.

It is also worth nothing that Kifayatullah was suspended as emir of the party’s Mansehra chapter in 2022 after making statements that violated party discipline. He had made statements against state institutions that the party said were not indicative of its stance or policies.

In the video, TTP says, Mufti Kifayatullah has expressed support for the Taliban, referring to them as “martyrs” (shaheed) and “warriors” (Ghazi). TTP claimed that Kifayatullah said that the JUI-F and the Taliban share the same objective: the implementation of Sharia law. TTP also said that Kifayatullah urged people not to fight against the Taliban, or at the very least, to avoid opposing them, arguing that their fight for Sharia is justified.

While Mufti Kifayatullah cautioned the Taliban against kidnapping, extortion, and attacks on civilian populations, emphasizing that their fight should remain confined to the mountains to avoid harming innocent people, the TTP has seized upon specific parts of his statement for its propaganda campaign.