Afghanistan: TTP Malakand chapter commander slain

Sources revealed on Saturday that Talha Swati, the commander of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Malakand chapter, has died in the Asadabad region of Kunar province, Afghanistan.

Swati, a member of the Fazal Ullah clan, was a member of Swat. After Friday prayers, in broad daylight, he was shot and killed.

The TTP leader served as the chief of intelligence for the Barikot region and had ties to the intelligence community.

The terrorist who was killed was reportedly reporting to the South District Taliban, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), and his close associate Noor Wali Mehsud on the actions of Jammat Ul Ahrar.

Reports on the commander’s passing were erratic. According to certain stories, he was slain by ISKP, but other reports said that a rival party assassinated him because of internal strife.

Reports on the commander’s passing were erratic. According to certain stories, he was slain by ISKP, but other reports said that a rival party assassinated him because of internal strife.

After the commander’s death, the Swati group demanded that the perpetrators face consequences.

Three terrorists were slain in two separate battles with the security forces in the Khyber and North Waziristan regions of K-P earlier this month, one of them was a highly sought-after commander of the TTP, which is now banned.

The leader, known as Hazrat Ali alias Gagga, was slain by the military in the Tirah Valley in the Khyber area during a ground operation. The goal of the operation was to destroy the last members of the Lashkar-e-Islam group, who had attempted to relocate from neighboring Afghanistan to the Tirah Valley.

Mangal Bagh, the leader of Lashkar-e-Islam, perished in an explosion in Afghanistan more than three years ago. According to reports, Gagga was the terrorist group’s primary operations leader and had aligned with the TTP.

Tensions between the two neighbors significantly increased last month when Pakistan conducted what it called “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” in the border regions within Afghanistan on March 18. Pakistan charges that some members of the Taliban administration are sponsors of the terrorist organization TTP.