ISLAMABAD – Mufti Noor Wali has been named as the successor of MullahFazlullah, who, along with his four lieutenants, was killed in a US dronestrike in north-eastern Afghanistan on June 13, 2018, Tribune hasreported.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of militantorganisations, officially confirmed the death of Mullah Fazlullah in a USdrone strike and announced the appointment of his successor on Saturday.
“Like his predecessors Baitullah Mehsud and Hakimullah Mehsud, MullahFazlullah was killed in a US drone strike at 11pm on the 27th Ramazan,”TTP’s central spokesperson Umar Khurasani said in a statement emailed tothe media.
He didn’t say where the drone strike took place, but Afghan and USofficials said at the time that Mullah Fazlullah had been targeted in theMarwara area of Kunar province of Afghanistan.
The spokesperson also confirmed that Mufit Mazahim, popularly known asMufti Hazrat, has been picked up as the deputy ameer of the TTP.
Earlier, reports were making the round in the media that Qari Umar, alsoknown by his pseudonym Ustad Fateh, was appointed as the successor ofMullah Fazlullah.
Mufti Noor Wali was picked at a meeting of TTP’s Central Shura soon afterthe death of Mullah Fazlullah. After the appointment of Mufti Noor Wali,Taliban factions pledged allegiance to their new chief, according to theTTP spokesperson.
The death of Mullah Fazlullah lends credence to Islamabad’s claim thatAfghan soil is being used by the TTP as a springboard for launching attacksinside Pakistan. Islamabad has long demanded that Afghan and US forces takeaction against the TTP terrorists in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials also blame the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) andNational Directorate of Security (NDS), the intelligence agencies of Indiaand Afghanistan, for using the TTP as an asset to perpetrate terrorism inPakistan.