Pakistan claims to have eliminated a high-profile target of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), its former Deputy Chief Qari Amjad Swati aka Mufti Mazahim, in an intelligence-based operation in Bajor district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday night.
Security forces have also eliminated his right-hand man, Commander Yasir. Sources claim Mufti Mazahim was working as the shadow minister of the TTP’s self-styled Defence Ministry and was considered the close aide of TDP chief Noor Wali Mehsood.
Qari Amjad Swati, aka Mufti Mazahi, was also the trusted aide of former TDP chief Mullah Fazlullah and TTP Jamaat-ul-Ahrar leader Umar Khalid Khurasani. Sources claim both Khurasani and Fazlullah were killed in Afghanistan in targeted attacks. In recent days, he was organizing the group’s terrorist activities in Bajor, Dir, and Chitral districts of Pakistan.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military media wing of Pakistan’s army, also confirmed Amjad’s death. In its official statement, ISPR said that the security forces picked up the movement of the group of Khawarij who were trying to infiltrate Pakistan through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Bajor on the night between 29th and 30th.
“Troops effectively engaged and thwarted the Khawarij’s attempt to infiltrate. As a result of precise and skillful engagement, four khwarij, including the kharji leader, a high-value target, Kharji Amjad, aka Mazahim, were sent to hell,” the ISPR said in a statement.
These intelligence-based operations come at a time when Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in peace negotiations in Istanbul, where Islamabad has maintained a firm stance on taking decisive action against TTP hideouts and urged Kabul to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to orchestrate attacks inside Pakistan.
“Kharji commander Amjad, deputy to Kharji Noor Wali and head of Rehbari Shura (leadership council) of Indian proxy Fitna al Khwarij, was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies and the government had fixed a head money of Rs5 million on him, as he remained actively involved in perpetuating numerous terrorist activities inside Pakistan while residing in Afghanistan,” the ISPR added.
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ISPR added that the TTP leadership based in Afghanistan is trying to orchestrate infiltration attempts into Pakistan, primarily to create an impression of its domestic presence as well as to boost the morale of the groups working in Bajaur and Mohmand due to the decisive actions of security forces targeting them.
The ISPR once again put forward its demand to the interim Afghan government to take concrete measures to avoid the Afghan soil being used by Khawarij for terrorism against Pakistan.
“It also validates our stance that Afghan soil is continuously being used as a haven by khwarij belonging to Fitna al Khwarij against Pakistan,” the ISPR stated, reiterating the military’s unwavering commitment to defending the nation’s frontiers.
While TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud had survived the attack, TTP has confirmed the death of Mufti Mazahim and Commander Yasir in a statement sent to the media by Spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani.
GVS South Asia Desk