Key TTP commander among three killed in NWA

PESHAWAR: An important commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), along with two other militants, was killed in the armed clash of two groups of Taliban in North Waziristan on Thursday.

Ashiqullah Mehsud, a key commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a so-called expert of suicide bombings was killed in a firing incident in North Waziristan tribal region Mir Ali, private news channel reported.The sources said that Ashiqullah was sitting with some members of the TTP when he was assaulted by the gunmen who escaped in a car after firing.

Both official and tribal sources confirmed that Ashiqullah Mehsud was the main commander of the TTP and was considered the master trainer of suicide bombing after Qari Hussain Mehsud who was the top expert and the inventor of suicide bomb blasts.

Intelligence sources believe that the incident is the result of a rivalry between Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Said Sajna groups. The latter also parted ways with the central TTP group.None of the groups have claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Furthermore, no statement has been issued by the TTP about Ashiqullah’s death so far.

No extension in ceasefire, war to start again: TTP commander

ISLAMABAD: The proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander in Mohmand Agency, Khalid Omar Khorasani Wednesday said the TTP has not announced an extension in the ceasefire and that the war will start again.

In a statement, Khalid Khorasani claimed that the government had breached its promise during the period of ceasefire and held the state, military and political parties responsible for ‘the losses suffered’.

He said all the influential sections of the society are in favor of the persistence of war.

On Pakistan cricket team’s recent defeat against West Indies in World Twenty20, he said ‘Allah has always let this nation cry without a break’

US commander fears full exit from Afghanistan could bolster Qaeda

Admiral William McRaven. – File Photo

WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda's core leadership in Pakistan has been seriously weakened, but the potential withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan could trigger a resurgence of the terror network, a top US commander said Thursday.
The warning came from the head of special operations command, Admiral William McRaven, known for overseeing the 2011 raid by Navy SEAL commandos that killed al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in his Pakistani compound.
“If we do go to zero, and there is no special operations component left in Afghanistan, it will certainly make it more difficult to be able to deal with the threat, ...and the potential resurgence of al Qaeda in the area,” McRaven told the House Armed Services Committee.
He said the danger posed by al Qaeda is “inherent within the federally administered tribal areas (in Pakistan), and in the northern part of Afghanistan, in Kunar and Nuristan (provinces).”
While most US-led forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan by the end of the year, Washington favors leaving a small force of up to 10,000 to train Afghan troops and counter al Qaeda in the region.
But Afghan President Hamid Karzai has so far refused to sign a bilateral security agreement that sets the legal framework for Nato troops to stay.
The Pentagon has begun planning for a full withdrawal, while US officials hope that a new president due to be elected in an April vote may be more willing to sign the security deal.
US officials privately acknowledge that retaining a military presence in eastern Afghanistan is vital for the continued use of air bases and intelligence operations needed for drone attacks against terror suspects in Pakistan's tribal belt.
Assessing the threat posed by al Qaeda, McRaven told lawmakers that the group's core “has gotten markedly weaker” while affiliate groups are surging in Yemen, North Africa, Iraq and Syria.
“So the threat is metastasizing. It is much more broad,” he said.
But he said the danger presented by al Qaeda to the US “homeland” was less than it was five or ten years ago, with “one or two exceptions.