TTP website shut down 24 hours after launch

Less than 24 hours after the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) launched its official website, UmarMedia.com, it was shut down Monday.

According to the information and publication wing of the TTP, the website was sponsored by Umar Media, the 'media wing' of the militant group, but investigation into the domain's registered records Monday revealed that the website was hosted by a company from Punjab, Dawn online reported.

"The domain was registered in November 2013, and until yesterday, we had no idea as to what the content on the website would be," the owner of the company in Punjab told Dawn.

"The order for the domain and the website was placed through an address from Karachi, and the client always used proxy servers to access the online administrative panel. The address was apparently fake," he added.

Umar Media was launched a few years back and has been publishing TTP-related information and videos.

The website, which was launched amid peace talks between the banned militant outfit and the Pakistan government, contained the TTP flag, verses from the Holy Quran, statements and videos promoting sectarian hate and propaganda material, especially against security forces, a message of TTP deputy Shaikh Khalid Haqqani for the people of Balochistan and pictures of slain TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud and his successor and current chief Maulvi Fazlullah.

The website is currently inaccessible and displays a '404 - Not Found' error.