Funeral of Commander Mohammad Hassan attended by Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah and other Taliban members
On Friday (Sept, 19th, 2014) militants from the Pakistan Tehreek- e- Taliban (TTP) attended a funeral service to honour one of their deceased, Commander Mohammad Hassan of Kabul, Afghanistan. In a statement released by TTP, he was said to have “embraced martydom” two days earlier during a fierce battle with Pakistani forces in the Boya area of North Waziristan during the ongoing military operation known as Zarb-e-Asb. (The name refers to a sharp sword used by Prophet Muhammad PBUH in battle). Journalists were informed that Hassan had previously been released from an Afghanistan prison and was reunited with his Taliban comrades to continue fighting.
Funeral Prayers for Commander Hassan
Also in the press release, Taliban spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid denied claims by the military that they had dismantled the communication and command system of TTP stating that “every commander of TTP is holding its position and operational as usual.” He also rejected Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) statements that the military has destroyed the central command of TTP and cleared the majority of areas in North Waziristan of insurgents. In addition, Shahid disputed allegations that more then 900 fighters of TTP had been killed during the Operation and drew attention to alleged bombardment of the civilian population targeting women and children in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas).
The ISPR have so appear reluctant to name over 900 insurgents they claim have been killed during Zarb -e-Asb and are equally reticent regarding civilian casualties.
Alleged downing of F16 “jet”
Back on August 21st, members of Pakistan Tehreek – Taliban (TTP) posted a message on a social media site which read, “Assalam o Alaikum, how are you all? We are back here, soon we will give you glad tidings from Waziristan. Mujahideen shot down an F-16, soon we will upload a short video of wreckage…. make dua (prayer).”
On Friday they posted a series of photos alleging to be an “F16 fighter targeted by Taliban” shot down by a surface to air missile. Taliban called this “the mirror of truth and false claims”…biting back at official statements claiming a high level of impact from military operations on insurgent numbers and fighting capabilities.
(images Umar Media)
Alleged Counter-claim …..
A group under the name of “Pakistan Defence” sent me the following counter-claim and a photograph explaining their points.
“We are debunking the propaganda pictures issued by the terrorist TTP, in response to their claims to have shot down a PAF F-16 aircraft. Following pictures were released by their propaganda cell, which we asked our aviation experts to assess and establish, which parts are shown in these pictures. As per our experts, these pictures are jettisoned drop tanks (fuel tanks), fuel rack and an unexploded gravity bomb. These items do belong to the F-16s, however they can be ejected if the Pilot desires to do so as dictated by the flight conditions. Thank you.”
Questions
Pakistan Defence have been requested to show “what evidence do they have that these parts were definately ejected, can they provide?”
The Taliban have also been asked to show any footage they may have of jet being brought down.
Jaamat-ul-Ahrar “call to Jihad”
Amir Omer Khalid Khorasani (JA Media)
Breakaway group TTP group, Jamaat -ul-Ahrar (JA) delivered a “call to Jihad” on the recent occasion of the formation ceremony of TTP JA as follows,
A message to the Mujahideen by Respected Amir Omer Khalid Khorasani (May Allah SWT Protect him) HA, head of intelligence wing JUA TTP
“We are following the way of Islamic Emirate Emirate Amir ul Mumineen Omar Mujahid HA and in this we are going to do jihad in Pakistan. We want to tell the Mujahideen of Pakistan who are present in TTP or who are not, we want to give them Da’wah to come be a part of this system and support us.”
JA claimed they had parted ways with TTP Central, led by Mullah Fazlullah because it had been “hijacked” by some individuals who were after “personal interests” and deviated. They also said TTP Central has restricted itself to limited local agenda and they would follow internationalist Khilafah agenda.
See link,
Pakistan: Talking to the Taliban on new splinter group “Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and how it came into being,
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 