Apart from the Peshawar school massacre, Fazlullah also claimed he was behind the killing of Major-General Sanaullah Niazi in September 2013. PHOTO: AFP
The United States has put Maulana Fazlullah, the fugitive chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), on its list of global terrorists.
Maulana Fazlullah, who is believed to be hiding in northeastern Afghanistan, had claimed responsibility for the methodical killing of 150 people – 132 of them schoolchildren – at the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16.
“The Department of State has designated Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Fazlullah, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism,” a spokesperson said in a media statement – available on the State Department website.
“The consequences of these designations include a prohibition against US persons engaging in transactions with Fazlullah, and the freezing of all property and interests of Fazlullah that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the possession or control of US persons,” it adds.
The State Department designated the TTP as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on September 1, 2010. The TTP was also listed at the United Nations 1267/1989 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee on July 29, 2011.
Maulana Fazlullah was elected TTP chief in November 2013, following the death of his predecessor Hakimullah Mehsud. Prior to that, he had led a bloody campaign for the enforcement of his own interpretation of Sharia law in Swat until he and his loyalists were routed in a military operation in 2009.
Apart from the Peshawar school massacre, Fazlullah also claimed he was behind the killing of Major-General Sanaullah Niazi in September 2013, as well as ordering the shooting of schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012. Fazlullah was responsible for the beheading of 17 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers after an attack in June 2012 and also ordered the targeted killings of elders who led peace committees against the Taliban.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2015.
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To get to him....first get ALL who sympathize and support him like Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid. When people like him, despite an arrest warrant being issued, roam free, the network that supports Fazlullah remains intact........giving the impression that the government is complicit.
He should hand over to the parents of massacred childrens.
It took the US more than a year to designate him a terrorist. Anyway, better late than never. The sooner Pakistan gets Mullah Fazlullah, the better. Salams
He will butcher other people without any remorse but when it comes to his own life he runs like a mouse runs from a cat - to save his own life of course.
He should all the time on sky. There will be drone with missile.