Mullah Fazlullah leader of TTP emphasises group baya is to Mullah Omar (image, Telegraph)
Recently, six top commanders from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) including spokesman “Shahidullah Shahid” announced their allegiance to Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State. The other five names are as follows:-
TTP amir for Orakzai Agency, Saeed Khan,
TTP’s Kurram Agency chapter chief, Daulat Khan,
Fateh Gul Zaman, who heads TTP in Khyber Agency
TTP’s Peshawar amir, Mufti Hassan
TTP’s Hangu chief, Khalid Mansoor
Shahidullah (who was not speaking for the rest of TTP or its leader, Maulana Fazlullah) gave commitment to “show allegiance to the commander of faithful, Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Qureshi al Hussaini, and will listen and obey every order of you and will follow your orders regardless of what circumstances may be.”
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) has now issued a statement regarding Shahidullah Shahid who has allegedly pledged allegiance to IS which says;
“Shahidullah Shahid is an “imaginary” name which is used by a person who becomes Spokesman of TTP Central
Shaykh Maqbool has also been spokesman of TTP Central, therefore, he was called Shahidullah Shahid.
Long ago, another brother had replaced Shaykh Maqbool and was promoted to spokesman of TTP (Means, He became Shahidullah Shahid)
We did not announce that due to our policy. But Shaykh Maqbool used this name (Shahidullah Shahid) for his individual purpose
We want to make it clear that Shaykh Maqbool is not Shahidullah Shahid (He’s not our Spokesman anymore)
As for the Baya to ISIS, Emir of TTP Central, Mullah Fazlullah has already cleared that our baya is to Emir al-Mominin Mullah M. Omar
Lastly, We will soon announce the name of our New Spokesman”
End
(Thanks to Pakistani journalist Ihsan Tipu for alerting me to statement)
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”.
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