Seraiki Taliban commander surrenders

Screenshot of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Hanif Gabol.

SARGODHA: A top commander of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Seraiki Karwan Group has surrendered to police in Mianwali district of Punjab.

Hanif Gabool, a resident of Dera Ghazi Khan and an expert in making suicide jackets, had allegedly masterminded more than a dozen suicide attacks in different parts of the country. The regional police officer Sargodha, Mian Javed Islam, presented Gabool to the media where he confessed to his involvement in suicide attacks across the country. Gabool admitted that he was trained by Taliban militants in training camps in the Waziristan tribal region. He said his Seraiki Karwan group has more than 25 members.

He confessed that his organisation had carried out several terrorist attacks, including the suicide strike on Chakwal imambargah, attack on a security checkpoint in Qudratabad and the Khosa Market attack.Gabool said that he decided to surrender to police because he was feeling repentance for what he had done.

He also used the occasion to appeal to members of his organisation to renounce violence and surrender to authorities. Gabol also disclosed that they were also planning attacks on the DG Khan Cantt, DPO office Mianwali, DPO Office Dera Gazi Khan and four Imambargahs in Islamabad. He also revealed that they were financed by different outlawed organisations.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 18th, 2010.