Law enforcement agencies, both civil and military, are tight-lipped over the mysterious assassination of an Afghan militant commander in Peshawar. Although the custodians of law went mum over the mysterious assassination that occurred on December 22, they were forced to hand over the commander’s body to his gun-totting loyalist. Per detail, leading Afghan militant Abu Hamza (fake name) was shot dead by pillion riders in the evening of December 22, 2011 on Daura Road near Gulbahar. Abu Hamza was coming out of a mosque after offering afternoon prayers, when the motorcyclist opened fire at him.
The assailants succeeded in escaping before personnel from Phando Roadpolice station reached the site. A group of Hamza’s armed loyalists reached the site and forcibly took the body into custody.
The exact identity of the slain commander could not be determined, but it has been found out that he was known as Abu Hamza and was affiliated with Ahli Hadith school of thought militant groups, who have a strong presence in Kunar, Nooristan and Laghman provinces of Afghanistan. No one has claimed responsibility for the killing so far, but it is being believed that such “targeted act” of killing was an outcome of inter-militant group hostilities. There exists serious rift between militants divided into Ahli Hadith (Wahabi) and Sunni (Hanfi) school of thought. Militants from the Ahli Hadith school of thought have great influence over men engaged in terrorist acts both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Local officials and analysts believe that the proxy-war between the US led allied countries’ spy agencies and its rivals from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others was in progress in this particular part of south Asia.