A CLAIM that the TTP congratulated Ali Amin Gandapur on his nomination as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister, has been debunked as being fake.

On February 13, 2024, an image of an alleged TTP letter congratulating PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur on his nomination as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was shared by a user, who appeared to be a PML-N supporter based on his past posts, on social media platform X.

The same picture was shared by a regional PPP official with the caption, “TTP’s letter to congratulate Ali Amin Gandapur on being nominated as CM KPK by the political wing of Taliban, with the hope they will get relief and help from KPK Govt to fulfill their desires.”

To investigate the circulated letter, the iVerify Pakistan team contacted senior journalist Tahir Khan, who reached out to the TTP for corroboration.

TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani denied the letter’s authenticity and said it was fake.

Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based researcher who tracks the TTP, said of the letter that it was “clearly fake for at least two reasons: TTP’s announcements are typically distributed through its official social media channels, but no such statement has been found there.

“Additionally, the writing and structure of this statement does not match that of TTP’s formal announcements.”

This fact check has been published in partnership with iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2024