Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Omar Khalid Khorasani along with his driver and two aides were killed in a roadside explosive attack in Paktika province of Afghanistan on Monday, confirmed Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani.
“A vehicle reportedly carrying TTP Mohmand chief Omar Khalid Khorasani, aka Abdul Wali Mohmand, Mufti Hassan and Hafiz Dawlat Khan, was targeted in Sharki village, near Margha, in Bermal district of Paktika province,” an Afghan official told media.
The TTP officials urged Afghanistan’s Taliban government to investigate the incident and unearth “spies” who could be responsible for the death of senior TTP leaders.
The TTP leaders were traveling in the Birmal district of Paktika “for consultation” when their vehicle hit a roadside mine on Aug. 7, anonymous sources claimed. No further details were provided.
Wali was a member of the TTP team involved in peace talks and negotiations with Pakistani officials, Pashtoon jirgas and religious scholars over the past few weeks.
Khorasani carried a bounty of Rs10 million on his head and his death delivers a big blow to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which comes a week after a US drone raid in Kabul killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The other two deceased commanders, Dawlat and Hassan had joined the Khorasan franchise of Islamic State when it was set up, but they were later wooed back into the TTP’s folds.
About the killed commanders
Omar Khorasani belonged to the Mohmand tribal district and was considered a member of the TTP top hierarchy.
Hafiz Dawlat was from the Orakzai tribal district and was recognized to be an important member of the group and a close trustee of Khorasani.
Mufti Hassan hailed from the Malakand Division and was one of the TTP leaders who pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the deceased leader of the Islamic State. Sources claim that Hassan had allegedly kindled conflict within the TTP some years ago.
Suicide attack in Pakistan
Soon after the killing, four Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide blast at a military convoy in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistan military said.
Pakistan Army in its official statement vowed “to eliminate the menace of terrorism” and said that the sacrifices of the brave soldiers “will not go unpunished”.