Jamaat-ul-Ahrar spokesman Assad Mansoor surrenders to Pakistani forces

PESHAWAR: Assad Mansor, a spokesman for the terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, has surrendered to Pakistani forces along with two associates, Geo News reported on Monday.

The TV channel reported the militant commander surrendered to the security forces in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The group is blamed for many deadly terrorist attacks that led to killing of hundreds of Pakistan in different parts of the country during past few years.

According to reports, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter faction of the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has been operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Last year, former spokesperson for the TTP and a key commander of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) Ehsanullah Ehsan had surrendered to the forces.

Rahimullah Yousufzai, the doyen of journalist in Peshawar and an expert on militancy and Afghan affairs, called the move a huge success for Pakistani forces, saying a video statement of Assad Mansoor could also be released following his surrender.

He said further defections may also be in the offing following the surrender of the key militant leader of the group.

In statement issued to the media,  Masnoor had announced death of JuA in a US drone strike in Afghanistan last year.

Omar Khalid Khorasani’s death comes ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit and is likely to help ease tensions between the often-wary allies, as Islamabad has been asking Washington to target militants who attack inside Pakistan and hide over the border in Afghanistan.