LAHORE - Though the interior minister and groups of TTP are not confirming the killing of Pakistan’s most-wanted man Mullah Fazlullah in an anti-terror operation on Pak-Afghan border, yet the people familiar with such developments, while insisting that Fazlullah is dead, say that TTP should give proof that Mullah Radio is still alive.
People privy to the developments about Mullah Fazlullah’s death puzzle told The Nation on Wednesday, “TTP leadership will not waste a single moment to establish the ‘proof of life’ of their top leader if he (Fazlullah) is alive in an effort to control demoralisation among the ranks of defunct out.”
They declined to share information about the exact details of operation for the sake of camouflaging similar actions to take out the remaining members of ‘Gang of Fazlullah’.
They also declined to say a word over Afghan security forces’ assistance in this operation, being carried out at Pak-Afghan border.
When asked if the anti-terror operatives were holding the body of Fazlullah for confirmation, they simply insisted, “Mullah Radio will not be able to unleash another wave of terror against Pakistan. The terror days of the ‘Butcher of Swat’ are over.”
They insisted, “TTP can’t afford delay in making public the proof of Fazlullah’s life even by sending his fabricated audio or video message to international media if not Pakistani media.”
They added that TTP splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has so far been denying the reports about killing of Fazlullah without absolute confidence claiming that only Ahrar militants were injured in the airstrikes followed by an operation conducted by special anti-terror units.
About the foreign media reports concerning Fazlullah’s killing in an operation in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, they restricted to the words of Pak-Afghan border without mentioning Pakistani side of the Durand Line or Afghan side.
Meanwhile, some members of the civilian security establishment close to the developments concerning operations against high-value targets informed that Fazlullah would not succumb to his wounds.
They claimed that though they knew little because of their indirect involvement in operations of this scale, however, they could say only that Mullah Radio would not be able to pose a threat in the future.