Militancy: Security forces kill top TTP commander

DPO says police opened fire when they came under attack from militants.

PESHAWAR:

A top TTP commander, identified as Jamaluddin alias Qari Basit, was killed in a police encounter in Nowshera on Saturday.

Qari Basit was killed in the Tarkhel area of Nowshera district in a clash with security forces while his accomplices managed to escape from the scene, police officials confirmed.

District Police Officer (DPO) Nowshera Muhammad Hussain told reporters that Akora Khattak police acted on intelligence received from militants, who were earlier apprehended, about the presence of militants in the area.

Hussain said that the police opened fire when they came under attack from militants. He said that Jamaluddin was killed in the firing, while his other accomplices managed to escape from the scene. He added that Jamaluddin was operating with the aliases of Qari Basit and Janaat Gul and he was a resident of Shahbaz Colony, Jaranda Road, Kohat.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2011.