Afghanistan: Senior TTP leader Khurasani killed in Nangarhar; Taliban denies involvement

Khalid Balti known as Mohammad Khurasani, a most-wanted leader of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) was killed in the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan on Sunday. Speaking to the Dawn under conditions of anonymity a security official of Pakistan confirmed that the news, adding that 50-year-old Balti was involved in several attacks on people and defence forces of Pakistan. Confirming the death of Balti, the senior official refused to disclose further details about the elimination of the high-profile terrorist leader.

As per reports, Balti had been visiting Kabul frequently since the Taliban overtook Kabul in mid-August. The senior leader of the outlawed outfit was reportedly uniting various TTP factions and drafting plans to launch serial attacks in collaboration with TTP chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud. Recently, there was also an indication of potential terrorist attacks in Pakistan, the defence official informed.

Hailing from Gilgit-Baltistan, Khurasani joined the cad extremist group Tehreek Nifaz Shariat-i-Muhammadi in the Swat area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa around 2007. He was appointed as the TTP spokesperson in 2015 and thus played a key role in spreading terrorist propaganda campaigns. He also established close ties and cordial relations with Mullah Fazullah, the former chief of the TTP and other top-tier leaders. Khorasani ran terrorist hideouts in the Miramshah town of North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. However, he fled to Afghanistan after operation Zarb-i-Azab in 2014.

Afghanistan's Taliban govt denies involvement in Khurasani's killing

Balti was arrested in 2015 in Nangarhar by Afghan forces and remained in Bagram jail, a TTP leader told the Dawn. However, they were freed last year after the Taliban seized power in Kabul and resorted to releasing prisoners during the military offensive. The killing comes amid the breakdown of the ceasefire between TTP and the Pakistan army. The ceasefire was drawn in November 2021 and continued for over a month. Last week, Pak army spokesman Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar informed that the ceasefire broke as the TTP made a list of unacceptable demands. "The ceasefire finished on December 9... Operations are going on against them (militant), he had said, adding that operations would continue until the menace of militancy was over," PTI reported quoting General Iftikhar. Meanwhile, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on Monday denied involvement in the killing of Khorasani.

"I do not confirm these reports. They are not true. No such incident has taken place on this (Afghan) side," said the Taliban interim govt. spokesperson Bilal Karimi, as quoted by the Dawn.

(Image: AP (representative)