Fazlullah not hiding in Kunar: governor

ASADABAD (PAN Fazlullah, was hiding in Kunar.

Pakistani Army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas on Monday said that Afghan and US-led forces had failed to hunt down Fazlullah responsible for a spate of cross-border raids despite repeated requests from Islamabad.

The attacks in which militants loyal to Fazlullah took part killed about 100 members of Pakistan’s security forces, angering the army which faces threats from multiple militant groups.

Fazlullah was the Pakistani Taliban leader in Swat Valley, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Islamabad, before a 2009 army offensive forced him to flee.

Kunar governor Syed Fazalullah Waheedi told a news conference that the Pakistani claim was baseless, asking Islamabad to provide them creditable information about Fazullah’s presence in Kunar. He said any information about the militant commander should be shared at the next meeting of Pakistan-Afghanistan tri-partite commission.

He said the Afghan government had the ability to purge the border region of insurgents. He said the world knew from where the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants were operating.

mas/ma

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