Key TTP splinter group commander killed in Afghanistan

Former shadow governor of DI Khan was killed in an airstrike in Lalpura

Dost Muhammad alias Asad Afridi, a key commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Jamaatul Ahrar faction was killed in an airstrike in Lalpura, Afghanistan, it emerged on Thursday.

Afridi was the TTP's former shadow governor of the Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.

The slain commander had claimed responsibility for several attacks including last month's attack on a Pakistani military garrison in Zhob district of Balochistan, despite the TTP's negation of the same.

Afridi reportedly claimed that the Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), which the TTP claimed was responsible for the garrison attack, was actually a front for the TTP itself and had no actual existence.

He also criticized the TTP's central shura for removing him as shadow governor of the DI Khan District.

TTP splinter group

The TTP and its Jamaatul Ahrar faction - both proscribed militant organizations in Pakistan - had developed differences following the Zhob attack and led to Afridi's removal as shadow governor. The TTP had warned Afridi over his statements regarding the attack.

Read Pakistan seeks public decree by Taliban chief against TTP

Last July, two days after the Zhob attack, sources within the TTP confirmed to The Express Tribune that the Karachi 'emir' of Jamaatul Ahrar, Muhammad Duadzai, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan.

The sources said that the chief was gunned down in Sharana city of Paktika province.

The militant commander belonged to the Pindiali Tehsil of Mohmand District, K-P.

He was appointed as the Karachi emir several years ago by a former Jamaatul Ahrar chief.

The notorious commander was wanted by the Pakistani authorities for his alleged involvement in several attacks, extortion and target killings across the country.

Zhob Garrison attack

At least 12 security personnel were martyred by terrorists in an early morning attack on the Zhob Garrison in northern Balochistan and another attack in the Sui district in July 2023, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The media wing of the military said that nine troops embraced martyrdom, as they thwarted a terrorist attack on the Zhob Garrison. Later, three more soldiers laid down their lives in another attack in Sui district.