PESHAWAR:
As unconfirmed reports of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah’s death circulated in the media early Monday, spokesmen for different Taliban groups denied that Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist was killed in an operation by the military.
TTP spokesman Mohammad Khorasani claimed that reports regarding Fazlullah’s death were “absolutely baseless rumors”.
A spokesman for Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar also denied the report.Military and independent sources also declined to confirm reports of the TTP supremo’s death in an offensive in Khyber agency’s Tirah valley.
On Saturday, the army’s public relations wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said at least 80 militants were killed and approximately 100 others injured in a major operation in Khyber.News of the latest offensive was followed by widespread speculation about the presence of Fazlullah in the area at the time of the strikes.
However, there was no confirmation about his fate from official or military sources.The military has been engaged in a full-scale offensive against Taliban and other militants in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal districts along the Afghan border since last year.
TTP gunmen killed over 130 schoolchildren in a deadly attack at Peshawar’s Army Public School in December.TTP chief Fazlullah, who is also known as ‘Mullah Radio’ for his use of an illegal FM channel to spread extremist propaganda, also ordered the 2012 shooting in Swat that gravely injured schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai – last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate
The school massacre, Pakistan’s deadliest ever terror attack, prompted the government to announce a tough crackdown on terrorist groups, lift a moratorium on the death penalty, and amend the constitution to set up military courts for the speedy trial of terrorism cases.