Qari Shakeel, key Pakistani Taliban commander, killed in Afghanistan: report

A key militant commander of the banned Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has been killed in an operation in Afghanistan, a spokesman for the militant group said on Friday.

According to a report by the BBC, a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar spokesman said Qari Shakeel and militant commander Dr Tariq Ali were killed Thursday in an operation in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.

A spokesman for the TTP also confirmed the death of Qari Shakeel and three others. However, he did not specify where Shakeel was killed.

Officials have yet to confirm or deny the report.

Qari Shakeel, a top militant commander who was known to head the political shura (council) of the TTP, represented the Taliban in the failed peace talks with the Pakistani government last year.

Splinter groups form alliance with TTP

News of Shakeel’s death comes as the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar splinter group and militant group Lashkar-e-Islam on Thursday said they had pledged support to and were forming an alliance with the main Mullah Fazlullah-led TTP militant group.

Lashkar-e-Islam is led by warlord Mangal Bagh and is feared for kidnappings and extortion in Khyber tribal agency.

Last year, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had split from the TTP, which carried out the deadly attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in December, killing over 130 schoolchildren.

The Pakistani military has been engaged in a full-scale offensive against Taliban and other militants in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal districts along the Afghan border since last year.

The school massacre – Pakistan’s deadliest ever terror attack – prompted the government to announce a tough crackdown on terrorist groups, lift a moratorium on executions and amend the constitution to set up military courts for the speedy trial of terrorism cases.