Islamabad: Pakistan has asked the Afghanistan government to hand over senior Taliban ‘commander’ Maulvi Faqir Mohammad.
Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan said that they ‘hope Faqir would be handed over to Pakistan as soon as possible because he has the blood of many innocent Pakistanis on his hands.’
The capture of Maulvi Faqir, former deputy 'commander’ of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan from Bajaur, by Afghan security forces was announced a couple of days ago, the Dawn reports.
Maulvi Faqir led the Taliban in Bajaur for a long time and reportedly has links with Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri.
According to the paper, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul officially conveyed the information about Maulvi Faqir’s arrest to Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in a telephonic conversation.
Pakistan hailed the arrest, describing it as an indication of the improved trust and increased counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, the paper added.
ANI
First Published: Friday, February 22, 2013, 13:07