ISLAMABAD – Investigators believe that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by Hakimullah Mehsud, is behind the recent suicide attacks against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman, as the militants suspect his party’s involvement in the recent arrests of some top Taliban commanders.
The successive suicide bombings targeting the JUI-F chief, who has been considered close to the Taliban, recently in Swabi and Charsadda districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has surprised political observers. Some observers believe that Fazl’s 2007 offer to the US to mediate between Washington and the Taliban, revealed by WikiLeaks recently, led to great anguish among the Taliban cadres and they targeted the JUI-F chief as a consequence.
However, investigators probing the attacks on Fazl believe that the attacks have more to do with his offer to US about mediation with the Taliban and in fact he had been targeted by the TTP, which is angry over alleged role of JUI-F in the recent arrests of important militants.
A source privy to ongoing probe into attacks on Fazl said two important aides of Mehsud were arrested from near a madrassa in a southern district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the TTP thought that someone in the JUI-F had provided the information to law enforcement agencies. The TTP allegations have been refuted by the JUI-F leadership, which expressed ignorance of any knowledge about the TTP commanders’ arrest.
“The understanding of investigators is that Fazl was targeted on two successive days after the JUI-F expressed its inability to do anything about the release of TTP commanders, who are both very close to Hakimullah,” the source said. He said that in addition to the arrest of those two commanders, some other TTP men had also been arrested in various parts of the country on basis of information that the arrested duo provided to the investigators.
An official did not confirm or deny the reports, but said the JUI-F chief had been asked to be mindful about his security, along with other political leaders of the country, as such assaults could not be ruled out in the future. Akram Durrani, JUI-F’s MPA and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, said nothing could be said as of now with authority about who attacked their leader.
However, he said the attackers could have political motives, as the JUI-F’s popularity was on the rise. “There are people who don’t like the rising popularity of the JUI-F, but at the same time the attacks could also be the handiwork of external forces, which want to create chaos and turmoil in Pakistan,” Durrani said.
