Islamabad: Pakistan Taliban commander in the northwestern Swat valley, Maulana Fazlullah, has been "badly injured" in operations by the Army and will soon meet "the fate of Baitullah Mehsud," who was killed in a drone attack, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.
In an interview to the News Daily, Malik claimed Fazlullah, known in Swat as `Radio Mullah` for his fiery sermons on FM waves, had been "badly injured" and one of his legs was severed during bombardment by the security forces.
Fazlullah is surrounded by troops and it is only a matter of time before he too meets "the fate of his master Baitullah Mehsud," the Tehrik-e-Taliban chief who was killed in a US drone attack last month, Malik said.
Malik said 47 hardcore terrorists involved in plots to attack the Parliament, the Inter-Services Intelligence office and other sensitive installations had been arrested.
"We will chase them till the elimination of the last terrorist," he said.
Though the Taliban had challenged even Islamabad 18 months ago, they had been "routed in their own backyard," their leadership was in disarray and their morale was at an all-time low, Malik claimed.
Public support and unanimity of views between the civil and military leadership had helped President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani turn the tide, he said.
The Afghan Taliban had forged linkages with their Pakistani counterparts and terror groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba and stepped up activities in Swat,
Malik said.
Over 40,000 people of various nationalities "involved in heinous crimes" came to Afghanistan to fight Soviet forces and later "stood up against Pakistan," he said.
The number of seminaries in Pakistan increased from 300 to 20,000 during the Afghan war and terror groups obtained "disciplined forces from the seminaries”, Malik claimed.
Malik also reiterated his claim that Hakimullah Mehsud, recently named the new chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, was dead and had been replaced by an impersonator. He claimed the Pakistani Taliban had also divided into several factions.
Bureau Report
