In custody

Ehsanullah Ehsan has always been a ubiquitous but spectral militant presence. The spokesperson, first for the TTP and then the breakaway Jamaatul Ahrar faction, would be in constant touch with journalists, putting out statements about attacks but had somehow managed to evade capture for so many years. For a time, there was even speculation that Ehsanullah Ehsan was not a specific person and rather was the name given to whoever happened to do the spokesperson for the militant groups at any given time. Now, finally, ISPR DG Asif Ghafoor has confirmed that Ehsan is in the custody of the security agencies after turning himself in. The press conference given by Ghafoor still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. We do not know where Ehsanullah surrendered, with some reports indicating that he was actually captured in an operation a few weeks ago and did not turn himself in. There has also been some speculation that he has given information under interrogation, including about militant hideouts in Afghanistan. Some analysts have linked his capture to the so-called mother of all bombs dropped by the US in Afghanistan, claiming that he gave the intelligence that led to the targeting of the underground IS hideout.

What cannot be denied is that Ehsanullah has been behind some of the worst militant attacks in our recent past. He was one of those who planned the attack on Malala Yusufzai and was believed to be behind a 2012 bombing attempt on Geo News talk show host Hamid Mir. As the primary source of TTP and JuA propaganda, Ehsanullah has done more than most to spread the hateful message. This might explain why he had a Rs200 million bounty on his head at the time of his capture. The launching of Operation Zarb-e-Azb had driven Ehsanullah and his fellow militants underground, likely in Afghanistan. The question we now need answered is if the appearance of Ehsanullah in Pakistani custody was through cooperation with Afghanistan or by unilateral action. The recent resurgence of militancy had led the government to declare that it would do more to secure our border. That Ehsanullah Ehsan is now in our custody indicates that we are following through on that promise.