Militant commander surrenders

MIRANSHAH: A senior militant commander, Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, surrendered to the security forces in North Waziristan on Sunday, security officials said.The officials said Abdul Khaliq Haqqani and his son, Maulvi Zakriya laid down arms and surrendered to the military authorities in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to officials, Maulvi Abdul Khaliq was the administrator of a madrassa, Gulshan Ilm in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, and fled to Afghanistan along with other militants when the security forces launched a much-publicised military operation, Zarb-e-Azb, against local and foreign militants in the tribal region in June 2014.

According to sources, he surrendered after talks brokered by some local tribal elders and religious leaders.Some members of the security establishment also played their role in bringing him back to North Waziristan.

The surrender took place after recent mysterious killing of another senior tribal Taliban commander, Maqbool Dawar along with his son and bodyguard in Afghanistan’s Khost province last week.