Lashkar-e-Islam deputy commander arrested by Afghan Taliban

The deputy commander of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), Tayyab alias Ajnabi, was reportedly arrested by the Afghan Taliban on Monday, a source within the Taliban told The Express Tribune.

Pakistani authorities were later informed for the recognition process.

Sources further stated that Tayyab has been reportedly detained from Kandahar’s Spin Boldak area in Afghanistan

Tayyab is the deputy commander to the chief of LeI, Zala Khan Afridi, who is the successor of the now deceased Taliban commander Mangal Bagh.

Read More: Situationer: Mangal Bagh back in the spotlight

Some local sources from the Khyber tribal district claimed that Tayyab is the son of Mangal Bagh, adding that he has carried out scores of militant attacks on the Frontier Corps (FC).

Mangal Bagh died on January 28, 2021, in Afghanistan from a roadside bomb in Nangarhar. He had influence from the Nazyan district of Nangarhar province to the Khyber tribal district.

A truck cleaner-turned-warlord, Mangal Bagh, held sway over the Bara tehsil of the erstwhile Khyber Agency until June 2008 when his militants were routed in a security operation. Since then he had been on the run, mostly operating from southern Afghanistan where his loyalists have found safe havens.