Afghan Taliban investigating killing of official in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban are investigating as to who assassinated one of their important officials here on Thursday following the claim by the Islamic State militant group that it was behind the killing.

Mulla Mohammad Daud Jalali, member of the Taliban Political Commission, was killed in Phandu area in the outskirts of Peshawar. Another Taliban member, Mulla Khaksar was also killed in the attack while another of their colleagues was injured.  Mulla Daud had served as the Taliban shadow governor for the Kabul province after the UN invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. He was later arrested in Pakistan and spent some time in captivity. He rejoined the Taliban after his release.

It isn’t clear as to who killed Mulla Daud and his colleague. The nature of the attack has also been under discussion. 

The Islamic State, or Daesh, made the claim of responsibility in their website. Taliban officials weren’t saying much as to who may have assassinated him. However, they have certain suspects in mind and were investigating on those lines.

In the past, the Afghan Taliban normally blamed the Afghan intelligence agency, NDS, for assassinating the Taliban figures in different parts of Pakistan, particularly in Quetta and Peshawar.