MIRANSHAH: Banned outfit Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has nominated Asmat Ullah Shaheen Batni as acting chief for running daily affairs of the organisation.
TTP nominated its prominent militant leader Asmat Ullah Shaheen Batni temporarilily on the top of the outfit after death of ex-chief Hakimullah Mehsood on November 1.
Earlier, Telegraph reported that there are unconfirmed reports that the Pakistan Taliban voted to promote their number two commander, Khan Said, also known as Sajna, to replace their leader.
Said is believed to have masterminded an attack on a jail in northwest Pakistan that freed nearly 400 prisoners in 2012 and an attack on a Pakistani air force base in the same year.
The Telegraph’s Rob Crilly in Islamabad says that “there was a meeting of the advisory council of the Pakistan Taliban to decide a new leader and the early front-runner has been Khan Said.
“However, it sounds like the meeting broke up before they could reach a final decision, in part because they had to move around so frequently because of the threat of drone attacks, so we may not know who the new leader is for some time.”
But if it is confirmed that Khan Said is the new leader, then Rob Crilly says that there “may be a better chance for accomodation with the Government,” as he is more of a “pragmatist”.
The people of Pakistan are very concerned about a “wave of revenge attacks” for the death of Mehsud, Rob Crilly says.
“The Pakistan Taliban will obviously be angered by the killing of their supreme leader and there will be commanders desperate to wreak revenge on civilian targets”.
Asmat Ullah Shaheen Batni is also the chairperson of Islamic central executive committee (Shura) of the outfit, sources said.
However, the militants’ organisation delayed the appointment and announced to reveal the new leader’s name in few days.
During the time, Batni will lead the sessions of Islamic central executive committee (Shura), sources said.
Earlier, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the banned terrorist outfit, chief Hakimullah Mehsud and four others were killed in a US drone strike North Waziristan tribal region of the couuntry bordering Afghanistan, sources said.
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