Pakistan’s top fugitive militant commander killed in Afghanistan blast
Mangal Bagh was killed in a roadside bomb in Achin district of Nangarhar province, according to local media reports
Our CorrespondentJanuary 28, 2021
Mangal Bagh AfridI. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Chief of a banned militant group blamed for a deadly reign of terror in a border region of
Pakistan has been killed in a roadside bomb attack in southern
Afghanistan, the provincial governor confirmed on Thursday.
“Mangal Bagh, the leader of Lashkar-e-Islam terrorist group, was killed along with two of his comrades in a roadside bomb blast in the Bandar Dara area of Achin district of Nangarhar this morning,” provincial governor Ziaulhaq Amarkhil wrote on his verified Twitter handle.
Bagh was involved in a number of terrorist activities in the area, added Ziaulhaq, who is also senior advisor to President Ashraf Ghani on political and public affairs. Bagh’s LeI group has been affiliated with the outlawed
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which is responsible for most terrorist violence in
Pakistan.
Mangal Bagh, a truck cleaner-turned-warlord, held sway over Bara tehsil of the erstwhile Khyber Agency until June 2008 when his armed vigilantes were routed in a security operation. Since then he has been on the run, mostly operating from southern Afghanistan where his loyalists have found safe havens.
The confirmation from Ziaulhaq came shortly after
Pakistan’s private Pashto-language Khyber News broke the story. “Mangal Bagh was killed in a roadside bomb blast in front of his house in Achin district, Nangarhar province, around noon,” it said on the authority of “a reliable security source”.
Pajhwok News,
Afghanistan’s largest independent news agency, also quoted “a well-placed security source” as confirming that Bagh was killed around 12:00pm when a bomb planted closed to the main gate of his house went off.
Read More: Situationer: Mangal Bagh back in the spotlight
In the past, Bagh was reported dead several times, but every time he would metaphorically resurrect to deny the reports of his death. Of late, he was seriously wounded in an airstrike by Afghan forces.
According to
US State Department’s Reward for Peace, Mangal Bagh carried up to $3 million bounty on his head.
“Bagh has led Lashkar-e-Islam since 2006 and has routinely shifted alliances to protect illicit revenue streams while enforcing an extreme version of Deobandi Islam in the areas of eastern
Afghanistan and western
Pakistan that he controls, particularly Nangarhar province,
Afghanistan,” it says.
“His group earns revenue from drug trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping, raids on NATO convoys, and taxes on transit trade between
Pakistan and
Afghanistan,” it adds.
Born in the erstwhile Khyber Agency, Bagh is a member of the Afridi tribe. He studied at a madrassah for several years and later fought alongside militant groups in
Afghanistan.
Police arrest three 'TTP militants' in Karachi IBO
Two hand grenades, Aiwan bomb and three pistols also recovered from the suspects
Our CorrespondentJanuary 28, 2021
PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The police claimed to have arrested three militants of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday in a major intelligence-based operation (IBO) in
Karachi.
According to SP Clifton, the police team, led by SDPO Darkhshan and SHO Defence, conducted the operation. The terrorists were arrested during a combing operation conducted in Qayyumabad.
Two hand grenades, an Aiwan bomb and three pistols were also reportedly recovered from the suspects.
The police stated that further investigation was underway, whereas police search teams to arrest the remaining accomplices have also been formed.
Also read: Terrorist attack on Islamabad Stock Exchange foiled: CTD
On January 24, five terrorists, including two commanders, were
killed during two IBOs conducted by the security forces in
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan district, the Inter Services Public Relations (
ISPR) said in a statement.
The military's media wing said Syed Raheem AKA Abid of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (
TTP) AKK group and Saifullah Noor of TTP Gohar group were killed during the operations in Mir Ali and Khaisur areas of North Waziristan.
Syed Raheem was involved in 17 terrorist activities against the security forces since 2007. He was in-charge of two suicide bombings in Wana and Mir Ali areas.
"He was tasked by hostile agencies for target killing, recruiting new terrorists and organising them,"
ISPR said. He was also involved in several terrorist activities between November 2020 and January 2021, it added.