Islamabad: Pakistani troops have killed a Taliban commander who is believed to have planned and facilitated the school massacre which left 149 people dead in Peshawar on December 16, officials said on Friday.
Named only as “Saddam”, the militant was killed on Thursday night in a gunfight with troops in the Khyber tribal area that borders Afghanistan, the chief administrator in the region, Shahab Ali Shah said.
Shah said that Saddam was the operational commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and was also the mastermind of several attacks.
The Taliban militants attacked and killed a tribal elder, Badsha Khan, on Thursday on suspicion that he supported the government.
“The terrorists tried to flee after killing the tribal elder, but the security forces and khsadars (tribal militia) frustrated their attempt,” Shah said, adding that the security forces had also conducted operations in the area.
He said Saddam was one of the most dangerous Taliban commanders who was “wanted by the authorities for involvement in a series of terrorist attacks”.
In Islamabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday constituted a ministerial committee to ensure the implementation of a national action plan to root out terrorism.
Warning to militants
Chaired by Sharif, the committee includes federal ministers for interior, information and broadcasting, defence and planning and development as well the advisers on foreign affairs and national security.
President Mamnoon Hussain, speaking in the restive southwestern Balochistan province, asked terrorists to lay down arms and surrender.
“Pakistan will be made a peaceful country,” the president said and warned that militants who do not surrender would be tackled with an “iron hand.”
— With inputs from agencies
