TTP leader Latifullah Mehsud had been detained in Afghanistan by US troops for past one year
The United States (US) handed over senior Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Latifullah Mehsud, who was detained in Afghanistan, to Pakistan, US officials said on Sunday, hours after Pakistani official sources confirmed the handover of the key Taliban commander.
Until his arrest last year, Latifullah had served as the deputy of then TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsood who was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in November 2013.
“We can confirm that the US repatriated three Pakistanis held in US custody in Afghanistan following consultations between the US and Pakistan and after receiving appropriate assurances regarding humane treatment,” the US Embassy spokesperson reportedly said.
“We cannot comment on the identity of the detainees,” the embassy spokesperson added.
Official sources earlier said that Afghanistan had handed over Latifullah and two other TTP men to Pakistan on Saturday. According to local media reports, Pakistani authorities had been demanding the return of the arrested TTP commanders. The other two militants handed over to Pakistan have been identified as Jafar and Aziz, according to media reports.
Afghan presidential spokesperson Nazeefullah Salarzai said in Kabul that Latifullah was in the custody of the Afghan government and that they are unaware of his handover.
In October 2013, Afghan authorities had stated that the US military and NATO troops had snatched the Taliban leader from Afghan intelligence agents. Latifullah, who was believed to be in contact with the Afghan intelligence, was reportedly arrested along with his guards and a tribesman by the Afghan National Army as he drove in a government convoy in eastern Afghanistan, allegedly to cross the border to buy weapons.
The US State Department had later confirmed that the US had captured Latifullah after Afghan officials claimed he had been seized.
The Washington Post had quoted then Afghan president Hamid Karza’s spokesperson as saying, “The Americans forcibly removed him (Latifullah) and took him to Bagram.”
AFGHANS HAIL LATIFULLAH’S HANDOVER:
Meanwhile, Afghans have hailed the reported handover of Latifullah.
“It is a big breakthrough,” a former Afghan diplomat Zardasht Shams said Sunday.
Further, Afghan media says that US has increased attacks on suspected hideouts of TTP militants on the Afghan side of the border in recent days. In a latest strike, the US spy aircraft killed at least nine Pakistani militants in Kunar province, the media reported.