*KARACHI: *Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday confirmed thekilling of one of their top leaders in a remote-controlled blast innortheast Afghanistan.
Shehryar Mehsud, leader of the Hakimullah Mehsud group of TTP, was killedby a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) in Kunar province onWednesday evening, said Nusratullah Nusrat, a purported spokesperson forthe outfit.
Shehryar’s lieutenant Maulana Wali Muhammad has been appointed as thegroup’s new chief “after consultations with all senior commanders,” thestatement added.
No further details were provided about the incident.
Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, the TTP was dismantled and pushed intoneighbouring Afghanistan after the Pakistani army launched a full-scaleonslaught on the North Waziristan tribal region – the network’s thenheadquarters – in 2014.
Read Top Stories
The group was further downgraded after the last chief of a united TTP,Mullah Fazlullah, was killed in a US drone strike in Kunar province in 2018.
Currently, the network is divided among several groups which are believedto have been operating from war-torn Afghanistan. – Anadolu Agency
