The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday threatened to attack Myanmar to avenge crimes against the Muslim Rohingya, unless the government halts all relations with the Myanmar and closed its embassy.

In a rare statement focused on the plight of Muslims abroad, the TTP group sought to present itself as a defender of Muslim population in Myanmar, saying, "We will take revenge of your blood".

TTP Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan demanded the government to suspend all relations with Myanmar. "Otherwise we will not only attack Burmese interests anywhere but will also attack the Pakistani fellows of Burma one by one," he said in a statement.

The Myanmar embassy in Islamabad was not immediately reachable for comment. The TTP frequently claims attacks on security forces in Pakistan but its ability to wage violence in countries further afield has been questioned.

But US officials said there was evidence the group was behind a failed 2010 attempt to bomb Times Square in New York, for which Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was jailed for life.

Recent clashes in western Myanmar between Buddhist ethnic Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya have left dozens dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless, and they are viewed by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan TUI leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman has strongly condemned the silent indifference of government over genocide of thousands of Burmese Muslims.

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Source: dailytimes & the Nation.pk