WASHINGTON – The United States Administration of President Donald Trump onFriday announced rewards leading to the arrest of three Pakistaniterrorists.
According to the State Department, a US 5 million reward was announced forinformation leading to the identification or location of TTP Chief MaulanaFazlullah, USD 3 million each for Abdul Wali of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and MangalBagh of Lashkar-e-Islam.
Fazlullah is the chief of the banned terror outfit Tehreek-e-TalibanPakistan, which is believed to have carried out several deadly attacks,including the 2014 Peshawar school massacre in which over 150 people,mostly students, were killed.
The announcement by the State Department came a day after Fazlullah’s sonwas reported killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a terrorist organisation that split away fromTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) while Lashkar-e-Islam is based inPakistan’s Khyber Tribal Agency. US wants to assure Pakistan that it ismoving against the terrorist concerns of Pakistan as it was long standingdemand of Pakistan to move against Pakistan concerns of use of Afghan soilby the anti state elements.
The announcement came as Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua heldmeetings with officials of the Trump administration, including the WhiteHouse and the State Department.
The State Department said the TTP was a terrorist organisation based in thetribal areas of eastern Afghanistan. It has historically maintained closeties with al-Qaeda.
Since being appointed by the group’s central Shura Council in November2013, Fazlullah has organised and directed several TTP attacks in Pakistanand has publicly blamed the US for military operations against the group.
In December 2014, Fazlullah’s operatives carried out the most lethalterrorist attack in Pakistan’s history when they killed 151 people,including more than 130 children, during an attack on Army Public School inPeshawar.
In 2012, Fazlullah ordered the failed assassination of Pakistani schoolgirlMalala Yousafzai for promoting girls’ right to education and publiclycriticized Fazlullah and the TTP, the State Department said.
Abdul Wali reportedly operates from Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and KunarProvinces.
Under Wali’s leadership, JuA has been one of the most operationally activeTTP networks in the Punjab Province and has claimed multiple suicidebombings and other attacks throughout Pakistan.
In March 2016, JuA conducted a suicide bombing at a public park in Lahorethat killed 75 people and injured 340 others.
In August 2015, JuA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Punjabthat killed Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada and 18 of his supporters.
Wali, also known as Omar Khalid Khorasani, was born in Mohmand Agency inPakistan and is believed to be in his late 30s.
He is a former journalist and poet and has studied at a number of madrasasin Karachi.
According to the State Department, Mangal Bagh and his group earns revenuefrom drug trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping, raids on NATO convoys andtaxes on transit trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Bagh has led Lashkar-e-Islam since 2006 and has routinely shifted alliancesto protect illicit revenue streams while enforcing an extreme version ofDeobandi Islam in the areas of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistanthat he controls, particularly Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan.
Born in Khyber Agency in Pakistan, he is believed to be in his mid-40s.Bagh is a member of the Afridi tribe. He studied at a madrasa for severalyears and later fought alongside militant groups in Afghanistan.