The government has confirmed killing of high target Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud in a police raid in Zhob district of Balochistan in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema said at his weekly media briefing here that in a significant development Abdullah Mehsud, wanted Taliban commander, blew himself up with a hand grenade while avoiding to surrender to the security personnel during an operation in Zhob, in Balochistan.
He said that Abdullah's movement was being observed for the last 2 to 3 days, and on Monday night he was reported in a house of one Sheikh Muhammad Ayub. The spokesman said that Balochistan police surrounded the house where Mehsud, along with his comrades, had taken shelter, and asked him to surrender, which he rejected, and blew himself up inside the guestroom, to avoid arrest.
He said that his three accomplices were arrested, including inmates of the house, and were shifted to some undisclosed place for further interrogation. Cheema ruled out involvement of any forces other than Pakistan's, saying that the operation was carried out purely by Quetta police on its own information.
According to some other reports, two brothers of Abdullah Mehsud, Abdul Rahman and Muhammad Azam, were also arrested, which the spokesman did not confirm. Abdullah Mehsud was wanted by Pakistan government for abducting of two Chinese engineers form Gomal Zam Dam in 2004, one of whom was killed during the rescue operation while the other was safely rescued by the commandos.
Abdullah Mehsud, the young Pushtun commander, fought for the Taliban against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan during Taliban regime and surrendered to the Uzbek commander Abdul Rasheed Dostum's militants in 2001. He was later handed over to US after the fall of Taliban regime, and spent 25 months in custody at the US base in Guantanamo Bay.
Mehsud, whose real name was Noor Alam, was formerly a student of Government College, Peshawar, and later joined a Madrasseh and then switched over as Taliban fighter. He had also lost one of his legs in a landmine blast in Afghanistan in 1996.
Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa: Cheema said that Lal Masjid would be opened for Friday prayer on July 27, and Jamia Hafsa was being demolished on the recommendation of the technical committee comprising engineers from Nespak and CDA, which was formed to assess the complex whether it was useable. He said that the committee declared the building as unsafe and it would also assess the children library.
He also rejected the impression that Pakistan Army is involved in demolishing the Jamia Hafsa, saying that army had returned after completing the clean up operation and all destruction and construction works were being carried out purely by CDA staff.
He further said that Ministry of Interior has formed inquiry committee after the reports about recovery of Quranic verses and other items from debris, adding that a strict punitive action would be taken against those who are found guilty of this sheer negligence.
He said that an enrolment register of female students of Jamia Hafsa was recovered on indication of Ume Hasaan, 'principal' of Jamia Hafsa, according to which, 1770 female students were registered in the Jamia. Out of them, he said, 1526 were boarders of the Jamia and remaining were day scholars. Besides, he said, record of 158 female teachers was also found. These figures defy all claims that have been coming out of Jamia Hafza that there were 5000 or 6000 female students, he added.
He said:"We have complete addresses of all students, which have been given to respective provincial authorities and would be able to give complete information about their whereabouts within short period. However, he said, there is no such record of male students.
He said that there are much exaggerations and mis-reporting about the missing persons but the fact is that the government has received only 58 applications of missing persons and there are 59 unknown dead bodies. Cheema said that the DNA results of 52 bodies are likely to come by Wednesday and bodies would be handed over to their heirs if matched the DNA results.
The spokesman said that 117 male students are still in the custody of police and investigations are being underway and those who are not involved in serious crimes would be released till Thursday.