Islamabad: A firing squad of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam killed one of its former commanders after holding him in custody for almost 18 months in the restive Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan, according to a media report on Wednesday.
The firing squad shot Ghuncha Gul Zakhakhel in Spin Drand area yesterday on the orders of Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh.
Zakhakhel, who had led a breakaway faction called Tawheed-ul-Islam, had been captured by the Lashkar-e-Islam in April last year.
Roza Gul, an associate of Zakhakhel, confirmed the killing and said his group was yet to receive the body, the Dawn reported.
Zakhakhel and Mangal Bagh had joined hands after the latter fled Bara during a military operation in 2004 and took shelter in Gogrina village.
The slain commander headed a gang of kidnappers before joining Mangal Bagh and he was wanted by authorities in several criminal cases.
Zakhakhel and his associates developed differences with Mangal Bagh over the kidnapping and killing of a cleric in March last year.
Collection of "taxes" from vehicles transporting smuggled goods from Afghanistan was another bone of contention between the two warlords.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, October 03, 2012, 13:12