According to Taliban sources Hotak was attacked near Nawey Adda area of Quetta unidentified gunmen on Thursday afternoon. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE
According to Taliban sources Hotak was attacked near Nawey Adda area of Quetta unidentified gunmen on Thursday afternoon.
Hotak’s body was shifted to Afghanistan for burial, a Taliban commander informed The Express Tribune.
Hotak was reportedly a senior commander under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Taliban have blamed Afghan intelligence for assassination.
“We are sure that it was the handiwork of the Afghan government and its intelligence agents who have carried out such attacks also in the past,” said a Taliban leader requesting anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to the media.
Afghan elders in Zabul province also confirmed the assassination of the Taliban leader. They said his body had been shifted to Zabul on Thursday and was buried on Friday.
Afghan security officials had claimed that Hotak was an active Taliban commander.
Afghan officials claimed that Hotak was member of Quetta 'Shura' however Taliban leaders rejected the notion.
This is third high profile assassination of Afghan Taliban leader in last two months.
Earlier, senior Haqqani Network leader Dr Nasiruddin Haqqani was shot dead near Islamabad on November 10, 2013.
On November 21, Maulvi Ahmad Jan of the Haqqani Network was killed in a US Drone strike in Hangu.
COMMENTS (11)
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Long live the NDS. They have done Pakistan a great service today.
@Umer: He came there on the invitation of ISI to foment more trouble in Afghanistan. JUD Hafiz Saeed was supposed to meet him but meanwhile somebody had passed on the information to Afghan intelligence.
Afghan intelligence agencies operating in Pakistan and up to Islamabad is an improbable presumption. The most likely scenario is that the Afghan Taliban stationed in Pakistan who fail to cooperate with the Pak intelligence agencies are the one eliminated.
What was he doing in Quetta? Who gave him visa? Why no questions are being raised by the security agencies who have practically held Quetta city hostage?
Live by the gun, die by the gun. No terrorist is safe any longer in Pakistan.
I love you Afghan army and NDS. Keep up the good work and eliminate these pakistani proxies and afghan traitors.
Afghanistan army is much ahead than pakistan army in intelligence gathering and power projection.
@Last Word: strategic depth. what is the meaning of this absurd notion, will you please elaborate before i respond further
I am amazed at the efficiency of the Afghan Secret Service and its army. A country that did not have a structured army or secret service till recently has made great strides.
It so appears that Pakistan military has abandoned its strategic depth policy as its assets are being eliminated systematically.