Daily Times

Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Malakand chapter commander Talha Swati was killed in the Asadabad area of Afghanistan’s Kunar province, sources confirmed on Saturday. Swati – associated with the Fazal Ullah group belonged to Swat. He was gunned down in broad daylight after Friday prayers. The TTP commander was linked to the intelligence group and worked as intelligence chief in Barikot area. As per reports, the slain terrorist was reporting on Jammat Ul Ahrar activities to South District Taliban, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), and his close aide Noor Wali Mehsud. There were conflicting reports surrounding the commander’s death. Some reports suggested he was killed by ISKP, while others stated he was killed by a rival faction due to some internal rifts. The Swati group, following the commander’s death, demanded punishment for the killers. Earlier this month, a most-wanted commander of the outlawed TTP was among three terrorists killed in two separate encounters with the security forces in the Khyber and North Waziristan districts of K-P. The commander, identified as Hazrat Ali alias Gagga, was killed in a ground offense by the military in the Tirah Valley of the Khyber district. The operation was aimed at eliminating the remnants of the Lashkar-e-Islam outfit, who tried to settle in the Tirah Valley while coming from neighbouring Afghanistan. Lashkar-e-Islam was led by Mangal Bagh, who was later killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan over three years ago. Gagga was stated to be the main operational commander of the terrorist outfit, which had sided with the TTP. Last month, on March 18, Pakistan carried out what it termed “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” in the border regions inside Afghanistan in a significant escalation in tensions between the two neighbours.