Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Taliban Commander Khan Daraz of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group on Thursday laid down his arms and surrendered to the security forces in North Waziristan Agency (NWA), sources said.

Daraz was the main fighter of Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, who had a final say in matters during the harsh Taliban’s rule in North Waziristan, whose excruciating role saw thousands of families migrating.

Sources said that after the launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the North Waziristan, Daraz had shifted to Afghanistan.

In the first week of this month, another notorious commander Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, along with his fighters surrendered to security forces in NWA. Haqqani was one of the leading Shura Council members of former Taliban head, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, in North Waziristan.

According to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), an organisation which tracks terror incidents, there has been a marked decrease in terror-related incidents in Pakistan in 2017. It stated that till November 12, 2017, a total of 1,107 casualties were reported including civilians, security forces personnel and insurgents in terror-related incidents.

Published in Daily Times, November 17^th 2017.