2 yıl önce

Pakistani Taliban member with $3M US bounty 'killed' in Afghanistan

Four members of the Pakistani Taliban were reportedly killed when a roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan struck their vehicle.

Reuters

The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan a year ago.

A senior Pakistani militant with $3 million US bounty on his head has been killed along with three aides in neighbouring Afghanistan, three militant commanders and an intelligence official said.

Pakistani officials said on Monday that the death of Abdul Wali, also known as Omar Khalid Khurasani, could deal a blow to nascent peace talks between Pakistan's Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and the Pakistani government after meetings facilitated by the Taliban rulers in Kabul.

Khurasani and his aides were killed in an explosion from an apparent roadside bomb while travelling in a car in southeastern province of Paktia on Sunday, the sources said on the condition of anonymity.

They did not say who they believed was behind the attack.

A fourth militant commander confirmed the death on Twitter: "He's no more with us," Ehsanullah Ehsan wrote in a tweet.

Designated terrorist group

The TTP — an umbrella group of several militant factions — has been behind numerous attacks on Pakistani troops and civilians over the last 15 years.

Khurasani was the chief of Jamat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a TTP branch that is designated a terrorist group by the United Nations and United States, which had offered $3 million for information leading to his capture or death.

Khurasani's group had claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against police, military, and religious minorities, which killed hundreds of people in Pakistan.

Kabul's Taliban government and the Pakistani military and foreign office did not respond to requests for comment. The TTP said without confirming the death that it would release a detailed statement.

The reports of the death of a senior Pakistani militant in Afghanistan came just a week after the United States said it killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri in strike on a Kabul guest house.