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LAHORE: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claims to have killed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s outspoken senior minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour to avenge the May 2012 abduction and killing of Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir, a leader of Maulana Samiul Haq’s JUI.
While claiming responsibility for Bilour’s killing, TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said: “The attack was carried out to avenge the killing of our elder, Sheikh Naseeb Khan”.
Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir, a central leader of the JUI (S), was kidnapped by unidentified persons from the Taru Jabba area of Nowshera on May 3, 2012 and his body was found a day later, on May 3, from Pishta Khara village of Peshawar. The Maulana was abducted while travelling from his Madrassa in Akora Khattak to Kohat.
Interestingly, Maulana Naseeb Khan’s death was blamed on the secret agencies by the Madrassah Haqqania, dubbed by critics as the ‘University of Jehad’.
Darul-Uloom Haqqania is one of the most important Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan and is famous for being the place that educated the Ameer of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Mohammad Omar. Founded in September 1947 by Maulana Abdul Haq, the father of Maulana Samiul Haq, the sprawling seminary, which propagates the Deobandi school of Sunni Islam, had earlier been named in the December 27, 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
According to the findings of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which had investigated the Bhutto murder, four of the 12 people who participated in the attack on Ms Bhutto had been schooled at the Madrassa Darul Uloom Haqqania, the only educational institution across the globe to have awarded an honorary degree to Mullah Omar.
It is strange that the TTP spokesman has claimed responsibility saying it was carried out to avenge the killing of Maulana Naseeb, who according to the JUI (S)’s own stance, was abducted and killed by the secret agencies.
“What can we expect from a government that has failed to protect the lives of religious scholars? In the past, we have witnessed the cold-blooded murders of Maulana Hassan Jan, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamozai, Maulana Noor Mohammad, Maulana Naseem Khan, and now his son Maulana Naseeb Khan has been killed under mysterious circumstances. How can a person be arrested by the law enforcement agencies without a warrant or FIR registered against him and then killed?” Maulana Samiul Haq had asked in his speech.
Maulana Naseeb’s killing led to intense fighting between the Pakistan security forces and the TTP fighters in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. The militants captured and killed nine Pakistani soldiers after attacking a convoy with rockets near Miramshah. A subsequent video released by Ehsanullah Ehsan showed the heads of 17 Pakistani soldiers displayed on a white sheet. The Taliban fighters were shown standing around the gruesome display, holding weapons as the camera pans back and forth to show the soldiers’ remains. The video then showed the military identification cards of the slain soldiers.
TTP spokesman claimed that the soldiers were beheaded to avenge the murder of Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir.
Almost six months later, the TTP spokesman has once again stated that Bashir Bilour’s assassination was meant to avenge Maulana Naseeb’s killing. Naseeb was considered close to the Taliban elements for many years. In 2005, he told a gathering of tribesmen in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, that anyone who would side with the government against the militants or spied for the United States, was liable to be killed.
It is unclear if the Maulana was abducted and killed by the secret agencies or by his jehadi colleagues for becoming too close to the intelligence establishment. But one thing is for sure: comrade Bashir Bilour had nothing to do with the Maulana’s killing.
While claiming responsibility for Bilour’s killing, TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said: “The attack was carried out to avenge the killing of our elder, Sheikh Naseeb Khan”. Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir, a central leader of the JUI (S), was kidnapped by unidentified persons from the Taru Jabba area of Nowshera on May 3, 2012 and his body was found a day later, on May 3, from Pishta Khara village of Peshawar. The Maulana was abducted while travelling from his Madrassa in Akora Khattak to Kohat.
Interestingly, Maulana Naseeb Khan’s death was blamed on the secret agencies by the Madrassah Haqqania, dubbed by critics as the ‘University of Jehad’.
Darul-Uloom Haqqania is one of the most important Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan and is famous for being the place that educated the Ameer of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Mohammad Omar. Founded in September 1947 by Maulana Abdul Haq, the father of Maulana Samiul Haq, the sprawling seminary, which propagates the Deobandi school of Sunni Islam, had earlier been named in the December 27, 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
According to the findings of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which had investigated the Bhutto murder, four of the 12 people who participated in the attack on Ms Bhutto had been schooled at the Madrassa Darul Uloom Haqqania, the only educational institution across the globe to have awarded an honorary degree to Mullah Omar.
It is strange that the TTP spokesman has claimed responsibility saying it was carried out to avenge the killing of Maulana Naseeb, who according to the JUI (S)’s own stance, was abducted and killed by the secret agencies.
“What can we expect from a government that has failed to protect the lives of religious scholars? In the past, we have witnessed the cold-blooded murders of Maulana Hassan Jan, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamozai, Maulana Noor Mohammad, Maulana Naseem Khan, and now his son Maulana Naseeb Khan has been killed under mysterious circumstances. How can a person be arrested by the law enforcement agencies without a warrant or FIR registered against him and then killed?” Maulana Samiul Haq had asked in his speech.
Maulana Naseeb’s killing led to intense fighting between the Pakistan security forces and the TTP fighters in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. The militants captured and killed nine Pakistani soldiers after attacking a convoy with rockets near Miramshah. A subsequent video released by Ehsanullah Ehsan showed the heads of 17 Pakistani soldiers displayed on a white sheet. The Taliban fighters were shown standing around the gruesome display, holding weapons as the camera pans back and forth to show the soldiers’ remains. The video then showed the military identification cards of the slain soldiers.
TTP spokesman claimed that the soldiers were beheaded to avenge the murder of Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir.
Almost six months later, the TTP spokesman has once again stated that Bashir Bilour’s assassination was meant to avenge Maulana Naseeb’s killing. Naseeb was considered close to the Taliban elements for many years. In 2005, he told a gathering of tribesmen in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, that anyone who would side with the government against the militants or spied for the United States, was liable to be killed.
It is unclear if the Maulana was abducted and killed by the secret agencies or by his jehadi colleagues for becoming too close to the intelligence establishment. But one thing is for sure: comrade Bashir Bilour had nothing to do with the Maulana’s killing.
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