Cha.Cal
FULL MEMBER
New Recruit
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2010
- Messages
- 47
- Reaction score
- 0
Dunno if it has been posted before, but several TTP commanders have been reported killed recently. Following are the reports:
Extremist commander Amin killed in drone attack
Updated at 1300 PST Monday, December 20, 2010
SWAT: The most dangerous and vital extremist commander Ibn-e-Amin was killed in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, Geo News reported Monday.
Ibn-e-Amin, who is said to be the mastermind in making of explosives and butchering people, is reported to be involved in myriad incidents of slaughtering people.
It should be mentioned here that Amin was killed in drone attack two days back in Tirah Valley. The sources confirmed his death today.
A senior commander of the Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam told The News that Ibne Amin was killed along with six other militants who were his bodyguards when the missiles fired by the drone hit his vehicle.
Pleading anonymity, he said Ibne Amin was among the seven militants killed in the Lashkar-e-Islam-controlled territory in Tirah valleys Spindrand area located some four kilometres southeast of the Afghan border.
Ibne Amin belonged to Kuz Shawar village in Matta Tehsil of Swat district. The government in May 2009 announced Rs15 million as head money for him. He was a close lieutenant of Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Swat chapter.
Ibne Amin, who was less than 40 years old, became a feared TTP commander when he started torturing and killing opponents of the Taliban in Swat. He rose in the militant ranks and at one time it was said that he was the most powerful man in the TTP Swat after Fazlullah. One of his brothers was earlier killed in fighting with security forces and reports of Ibne Amins death had also circulated in the past.
According to intelligence sources, Ibne Amin also had links with al-Qaeda. The Khyber Agency has witnessed three US drone attacks over the last four days in which about three dozen militants from Lashkar-e-Islam and TTP were killed along with some civilians.
The Lashkar-e-Islam commander who broke the news about Ibne Amins death said Ibne Amin had been engaged in reconciliation efforts for the last several days to bring together the factions of Lashkar-e-Islam. Last week, I met Ibn Amin in Chora area of Jamrud Tehsil where he had come to talk to Tayyab Afridi, the leader of dissident group in Lashkar-e-Islam who had fallen out with his leader Mangal Bagh, he recalled.
Tayyab Afridi was expelled by commander Khan, a confidant of Mangal Bagh, from Bazaar valley in Landikotal Tehsil on November 27. After his fruitful talks with Tayyab Afridi, Ibne Amin left for Nangrosa area in Tirah valley to see Mangal Bagh but the latter avoided meeting him as he was not interested in reconciliation, the Lashkar-e-Islam commander said.
He said Ibne Amin stayed behind and waited to see Mangal Bagh in Nangrosa, Sandana and Spindrand areas of Tirah populated by the Sepah tribe until he was killed in the drone attack along with his six guards on Thursday.
Sources in Tirah valley said al-Qaeda and TTP leaders had expedited efforts to resolve differences between various militant groups operating in the border region of Pakistan to coordinate their operations. Ibne Amins role as a mediator was part of these efforts, the sources said.
The sources said after the Taliban defeat in Swat as a result of the military operation last year, Ibn Amin had moved to Afghanistan to fight foreign forces and then moved to Tirah valley in Khyber Agency where he had established bases and training camps for Swati Taliban. The sources said he was in close contact with Maulana Fazlullah in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, two Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) commanders, Yar Azam and Mehmud, succumbed to injuries they had sustained in two consecutive US drone attacks on the headquarters of their organisation in Sandana area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on Friday, local sources said on Sunday.
With the death of the two commanders, the toll reached 34. Among them were 32 militants associated with the LI, and two civilians including a prisoner, who was in the custody of the militants.
It is for the first time that the US drones targeted the LI, a local militant organisation that has confined its activities to Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency unlike the TTP. The LI has been fighting Pakistani security forces since the launch of military operation against it in September 2009.
On Thursday, seven militants, including Commander Ibne Amin belonging to the TTP Swat chapter, were killed in the US drone attack on a vehicle in Spindrand village near Sandana in Tirah valley.
The drone struck the LI headquarters in Sandana, also known as Khushal Markaz, at around 10 am on Friday when the militants were gathering for a meeting. The militants were busy in a rescue operation to remove the bodies from the rubble when the unmanned CIA-operated Predators mounted the second attack. Besides the death of 32 people and injuries to a dozen others, a nearby jail built in caves was damaged in the two attacks. More than a dozen prisoners survived the attack. The injured were shifted to nearby clinics run by LI instead of Bara or Peshawar due to fear of arrest.
The LI lost eight commanders from Sepah tribe in the attacks. They included Yar Azam, Mehmud, Mir Jan alias Fuzi Shafi who was a retired sepoy of the Frontier Constabulary, Rasheed, Mazaar Khan, Hassan and Mashri Khan.
The first drone attack in Khyber Agency was reportedly carried out on a vehicle in Mangal Bagh Kandaw area of Tirah, leaving 13 militants of TTP Swat chapter dead on May 15, 2010. The sources said a US drone continued flying over the area on Sunday.
Three high ranking TTP officials killed in Afghanistan
December 22, 2010
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hafizullah and two of his aides have been killed in Afghanistan, according to official sources.
An official speaking on conditions of anonymity told The Express Tribune that the TTP militants were killed by a drone strike on December 10 near the Pak-Afghan border in Afghanistans Kunar province, 10 kilometres away from Pakistans territory.
Hafeezullah was the head of the TTP in the Upper and Lower Dir areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before the military operation began. He was believed to have gone into hiding in Afghanistan.
According to Express 24/7 correspondent Iftikhar Firdous, both of Hafeezullahs aides were high ranking officials in the TTP. The aides, Dr Wazir and Muftahudin alias Shabbar, had been apprehended in Pakistan before but were set free after a peace deal in Swat. Shabbar was known for carrying out public executions.
Hafeezullah was known for a number of suicide bombings in Dir, one of them being a suicide bomb in which three Americans among others were killed. He had then personally called local reporters to claim responsibility for the attack.
Taliban commander killed in Pakistan: security officials
(AFP) December 23, 2010
PESHAWAR, Pakistan Pakistani security officials said Thursday that a wanted Taliban commander had been killed in fighting with government troops in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
"Asmatullah Bhetani was killed in a gunfight with security forces in South Waziristan on the night between December 7 and 8," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another official confirmed Bhetani's death, saying there had been a reward of 10 million rupees (120,000 dollars) for his arrest.
He died in Sararogha, a militant stronghold in South Waziristan, where Pakistan carried out a major offensive to crush the Taliban's headquarters last year, the official said, describing him as an "important militant commander".
He was allegedly close to former Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was blamed for orchestrating some of the deadliest suicide attacks in Pakistan from 2007 until his death in a US drone strike in August 2009.
"Bhetani had been hiding in Sararogha along with several other militants. A gunfight took place between security forces and Bhetani in which helicopter gunships were used," the official said.
"We had reports that he died in the fighting, but they couldn't be confirmed at the time. Now we have confirmation that he was killed," the official said, referring to intelligence intercepts.
In his mid-30s, Bhetani had been active in the northwestern Tank district, but rivals forced him to flee to South Waziristan, where he joined slain Taliban commanders Abdulllah Mehsud and Baitullah Mehsud, he said.
"His death is a big blow to Taliban militants," the official claimed.
A Pakistani official said Bhetani was educated at a madrassa in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, before opening a seminary himself and teaching. He was arrested twice in 2006, but released after negotiations.
The United States considers Pakistan's tribal belt the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous place on Earth.
US officials are putting pressure on Pakistan to launch a major ground offensive in the tribal region of North Waziristan, considered the ultimate fortress of Afghan Taliban groups fighting American troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan vehemently denies accusations that it is not doing enough to eradicate the Taliban menace in the northwest, saying 2,421 troops have been killed in fighting with Islamist militants from 2002 until April this year.
Extremist commander Amin killed in drone attack
Updated at 1300 PST Monday, December 20, 2010
SWAT: The most dangerous and vital extremist commander Ibn-e-Amin was killed in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, Geo News reported Monday.
Ibn-e-Amin, who is said to be the mastermind in making of explosives and butchering people, is reported to be involved in myriad incidents of slaughtering people.
It should be mentioned here that Amin was killed in drone attack two days back in Tirah Valley. The sources confirmed his death today.
A senior commander of the Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam told The News that Ibne Amin was killed along with six other militants who were his bodyguards when the missiles fired by the drone hit his vehicle.
Pleading anonymity, he said Ibne Amin was among the seven militants killed in the Lashkar-e-Islam-controlled territory in Tirah valleys Spindrand area located some four kilometres southeast of the Afghan border.
Ibne Amin belonged to Kuz Shawar village in Matta Tehsil of Swat district. The government in May 2009 announced Rs15 million as head money for him. He was a close lieutenant of Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Swat chapter.
Ibne Amin, who was less than 40 years old, became a feared TTP commander when he started torturing and killing opponents of the Taliban in Swat. He rose in the militant ranks and at one time it was said that he was the most powerful man in the TTP Swat after Fazlullah. One of his brothers was earlier killed in fighting with security forces and reports of Ibne Amins death had also circulated in the past.
According to intelligence sources, Ibne Amin also had links with al-Qaeda. The Khyber Agency has witnessed three US drone attacks over the last four days in which about three dozen militants from Lashkar-e-Islam and TTP were killed along with some civilians.
The Lashkar-e-Islam commander who broke the news about Ibne Amins death said Ibne Amin had been engaged in reconciliation efforts for the last several days to bring together the factions of Lashkar-e-Islam. Last week, I met Ibn Amin in Chora area of Jamrud Tehsil where he had come to talk to Tayyab Afridi, the leader of dissident group in Lashkar-e-Islam who had fallen out with his leader Mangal Bagh, he recalled.
Tayyab Afridi was expelled by commander Khan, a confidant of Mangal Bagh, from Bazaar valley in Landikotal Tehsil on November 27. After his fruitful talks with Tayyab Afridi, Ibne Amin left for Nangrosa area in Tirah valley to see Mangal Bagh but the latter avoided meeting him as he was not interested in reconciliation, the Lashkar-e-Islam commander said.
He said Ibne Amin stayed behind and waited to see Mangal Bagh in Nangrosa, Sandana and Spindrand areas of Tirah populated by the Sepah tribe until he was killed in the drone attack along with his six guards on Thursday.
Sources in Tirah valley said al-Qaeda and TTP leaders had expedited efforts to resolve differences between various militant groups operating in the border region of Pakistan to coordinate their operations. Ibne Amins role as a mediator was part of these efforts, the sources said.
The sources said after the Taliban defeat in Swat as a result of the military operation last year, Ibn Amin had moved to Afghanistan to fight foreign forces and then moved to Tirah valley in Khyber Agency where he had established bases and training camps for Swati Taliban. The sources said he was in close contact with Maulana Fazlullah in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, two Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) commanders, Yar Azam and Mehmud, succumbed to injuries they had sustained in two consecutive US drone attacks on the headquarters of their organisation in Sandana area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on Friday, local sources said on Sunday.
With the death of the two commanders, the toll reached 34. Among them were 32 militants associated with the LI, and two civilians including a prisoner, who was in the custody of the militants.
It is for the first time that the US drones targeted the LI, a local militant organisation that has confined its activities to Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency unlike the TTP. The LI has been fighting Pakistani security forces since the launch of military operation against it in September 2009.
On Thursday, seven militants, including Commander Ibne Amin belonging to the TTP Swat chapter, were killed in the US drone attack on a vehicle in Spindrand village near Sandana in Tirah valley.
The drone struck the LI headquarters in Sandana, also known as Khushal Markaz, at around 10 am on Friday when the militants were gathering for a meeting. The militants were busy in a rescue operation to remove the bodies from the rubble when the unmanned CIA-operated Predators mounted the second attack. Besides the death of 32 people and injuries to a dozen others, a nearby jail built in caves was damaged in the two attacks. More than a dozen prisoners survived the attack. The injured were shifted to nearby clinics run by LI instead of Bara or Peshawar due to fear of arrest.
The LI lost eight commanders from Sepah tribe in the attacks. They included Yar Azam, Mehmud, Mir Jan alias Fuzi Shafi who was a retired sepoy of the Frontier Constabulary, Rasheed, Mazaar Khan, Hassan and Mashri Khan.
The first drone attack in Khyber Agency was reportedly carried out on a vehicle in Mangal Bagh Kandaw area of Tirah, leaving 13 militants of TTP Swat chapter dead on May 15, 2010. The sources said a US drone continued flying over the area on Sunday.
Three high ranking TTP officials killed in Afghanistan
December 22, 2010
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hafizullah and two of his aides have been killed in Afghanistan, according to official sources.
An official speaking on conditions of anonymity told The Express Tribune that the TTP militants were killed by a drone strike on December 10 near the Pak-Afghan border in Afghanistans Kunar province, 10 kilometres away from Pakistans territory.
Hafeezullah was the head of the TTP in the Upper and Lower Dir areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before the military operation began. He was believed to have gone into hiding in Afghanistan.
According to Express 24/7 correspondent Iftikhar Firdous, both of Hafeezullahs aides were high ranking officials in the TTP. The aides, Dr Wazir and Muftahudin alias Shabbar, had been apprehended in Pakistan before but were set free after a peace deal in Swat. Shabbar was known for carrying out public executions.
Hafeezullah was known for a number of suicide bombings in Dir, one of them being a suicide bomb in which three Americans among others were killed. He had then personally called local reporters to claim responsibility for the attack.
Taliban commander killed in Pakistan: security officials
(AFP) December 23, 2010
PESHAWAR, Pakistan Pakistani security officials said Thursday that a wanted Taliban commander had been killed in fighting with government troops in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
"Asmatullah Bhetani was killed in a gunfight with security forces in South Waziristan on the night between December 7 and 8," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another official confirmed Bhetani's death, saying there had been a reward of 10 million rupees (120,000 dollars) for his arrest.
He died in Sararogha, a militant stronghold in South Waziristan, where Pakistan carried out a major offensive to crush the Taliban's headquarters last year, the official said, describing him as an "important militant commander".
He was allegedly close to former Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who was blamed for orchestrating some of the deadliest suicide attacks in Pakistan from 2007 until his death in a US drone strike in August 2009.
"Bhetani had been hiding in Sararogha along with several other militants. A gunfight took place between security forces and Bhetani in which helicopter gunships were used," the official said.
"We had reports that he died in the fighting, but they couldn't be confirmed at the time. Now we have confirmation that he was killed," the official said, referring to intelligence intercepts.
In his mid-30s, Bhetani had been active in the northwestern Tank district, but rivals forced him to flee to South Waziristan, where he joined slain Taliban commanders Abdulllah Mehsud and Baitullah Mehsud, he said.
"His death is a big blow to Taliban militants," the official claimed.
A Pakistani official said Bhetani was educated at a madrassa in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, before opening a seminary himself and teaching. He was arrested twice in 2006, but released after negotiations.
The United States considers Pakistan's tribal belt the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous place on Earth.
US officials are putting pressure on Pakistan to launch a major ground offensive in the tribal region of North Waziristan, considered the ultimate fortress of Afghan Taliban groups fighting American troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan vehemently denies accusations that it is not doing enough to eradicate the Taliban menace in the northwest, saying 2,421 troops have been killed in fighting with Islamist militants from 2002 until April this year.
