The central shura (council) of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has decided to remove the deputy chief; however, it did not name his successor, reported the BBC on Sunday.
Ihsanullah, the deputy spokesperson of TTP, told BBC that the decision was made at a meeting on Friday, in which nine top commanders participated. The decision to remove Maulvi Faqir Muhammad was one of the many made by the council, he added.
According to the spokesperson, Maulvi Faqir will now be an ordinary fighter, but the option to give him another slot is still open. But he refused to explain the reason behind the move, saying he was could share details right now and was informing media only on the directives of Hakimullah Mehsud, the TTP chief.
Replying to question, he said no new names had been shortlisted and the council would decide the matter at the next meeting. Several attempts were made to get Maulvi Faqir’s version, but he could not be contacted. Faqir, who hails from Bajaur Agency, is an important extremist commander and held the position for the last some years, but reports has been circulating about his worsening relations with the top TTP hierarchy for quite some time.
The BBC cited the example of the kidnapping of 20 children from Bajaur on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr last year, when another TTP commander Maulvi Dadullah had accused Faqir of having contacts with the government and announced that he had no association with the TTP.
Faqir after four days of Dadullah’s announcement confirmed the reports of ‘some small disagreements’, but said he was still working as the TTP deputy chief.