Where is Maulana Fazlullah?
PESHAWAR: Is Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah in Afghanistan or Pakistan? His spokesman Omar Hasan Ahrabi said Sunday that he is somewhere in Pakistan, but is easily able to cross the border to Afghanistan whenever the need arises.
When Fazlullah escaped from Swat late last year, he phoned reporters in Peshawar and elsewhere to claim that he was safe and sound and had crossed over to Afghanistan. He had used an Afghan mobile phone number to show that he was actually in Afghanistan. However, it is no secret that Afghanistan’s mobile phone service is available in certain tribal areas of Pakistan.
Fazlullah’s dramatic escape embarrassed the government and the security forces as they had been claiming that he was cornered in Swat and would be captured soon. It was also claimed that he was wounded and was unlikely to survive. As it turned out, he wasn’t under siege and was thus able to make good his escape. It is still not clear if he was injured. Even if he had suffered injuries it is possible that he may have recovered now after medical treatment.
According to Swat Taliban’s new spokesman Omar Hasan Ahrabi, who called The News from an unknown place apparently in the tribal areas, Maulana Fazlullah was alright and was never injured. “I am in touch with him through handwritten letters. He is in our ‘watan’ (our homeland) and is able to cross over to Afghanistan whenever he wishes,” the Taliban spokesman claimed.
The spokesman said a new video of Fazlullah would be released in the near future to put to rest all speculations about his health. However, he didn’t say when the video would be issued.
There would be renewed interest in Fazlullah now that his men are reappearing in Swat and target-killing pro-government political and social activists. Five anti-Taliban activists were assassinated in Mingora, Dherai and Koza Bandai within the span of 10 days recently. The target-killings caused fear among people who formed anti-Taliban lashkars or openly criticized the militants. On Sunday and Monday, though, the security forces claimed Taliban militants involved in these target-killings had been eliminated in encounters in Kanju town near Mingora and in Ghalegai in Barikot tehsil.
The Swat Taliban had claimed responsibility for the target-killings and threatened to eliminate those forming lashkar against them and supporting the government. Their spokesman, Ahrabi, had also claimed responsibility for the recent suicide bombings in Timergara in Lower Dir district.
Fazlullah, in his early 30s, is the most wanted Taliban leader in Swat with a headmoney of Rs50 million. He is the son-in-law of Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) founder Maulana Sufi Mohammad, who is being held in Central Prison Peshawar since the past several months. Fazlullah’s whereabouts have been a matter of speculation. It is believed he could be in one of the tribal areas, most likely in Mohmand or Orakzai. Many Swati Taliban had first taken refuge in Bajaur Agency but military action against the militants in the Mamond and Charmang areas forces them to shift to Mohmand Agency or other tribal areas.
The provincial government had announced monetary reward for his capture and that of 20 top Taliban commanders in Swat. The headmoney for these 20 wanted militants was Rs10 million each. Some of them including Sher Mohammad Qasab, Bakht Farzand and Maulana Mohammad Alam Binori alias Maulana Khalil have been killed by the security forces. Claims were also made about the death of Swat Taliban deputy leader Maulana Shah Dauran and Commander Omar Rahman alias Fateh, but there has been no hard evidence to prove this. Still it is widely believed that Shah Dauran is dead.
The Swat Taliban leaders who were captured and are in government custody include Muslim Khan, Mahmood Khan, Bashir Ahmad and Liaqat. Besides Fazlullah, other important Swat Taliban commanders still at large are Sirajuddin, Ibne Amin, Qari Mushtaq, Shahinshah and Akbar Hussain.
