ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani Taliban group confirmed late Saturday that its 7 fighters were killed in an overnight operation on the Afghan side of the border. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (TTP-JuA) said that it lost its militants late Friday in an operation by the Afghan Special Forces in Afghan areas opposite to Pakistan’s Mohmand Agency.
Pakistani security sources, however, said that the ground operation was jointly conducted by the NATO and Afghan forces in Lalpura area of eastern Nangarhar province. TTP-JuA has made Lalpura its main base for planning operations in Pakistan, security sources say.
TTP-JuA spokesman Asad Mansoor said in a statement that a senior commander Adil Bacha, who was involved in a series of attacks in Pakistan, was among those killed.
Another known commander was identified as Wali Khan alias Haris, who was the head of a TTP-JuA unit in Khyber tribal region, but was operating from the Afghan side of the border.
Those other killed include Abu Saib, Abdur Rehman, Bashir, Nazir and Luqman, sources said.
Published in Daily Times, October 1st 2017.
