TTP deputy chief Qari Amjad among those killed in Bajaur

ISLAMABAD: Security forces on the night between Wednesday and Thursday eliminated Qari Amjad – the deputy chief of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Bajaur – a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa located along Pak-Afghan border.

The massive success in the ongoing anti-terrorist operations against Fitna al-Hindustan – the term used for TTP and other groups – came in a precision intelligence-based operation in Bajaur.

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A SIGNIFICANT BLOW

The elimination of TTP deputy chief has delivered a decisive blow to the group’s command structure, weakening coordination between the terrorist group’s Bajaur, Swat, and North Waziristan cells.

Marking another successful phase of Pakistan’s intelligence-driven counter-terrorism campaign, his killing demonstrates zero-tolerance policy against terrorists threatening national stability.

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SPECIALLY DESIGNATED GLOBAL TERRORIST

Qari Amjad had several aliases — Mufti Amjad, Mufti Hazrat Deroji, Mufti Muzahim and Mufti Hazrat Ali. He was number two in the TTP’s hierarchy, directly under Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud and one of the most notorious masterminds behind terrorism acts in Pakistan’s northwest.

He was born in Samar Bagh, Lower Dir, but currently resided in Dangam, in the Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

Qari Amjad was appointed as one of the TTP chiefs along with Omar Khalid Khorasani and Maulvi Faqir Muhammad.

On 25 March 2023, the US designated Qari Amjad as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

Qari Amjad directly supervised explosives and drone (quadcopter) squads, introducing new terror tactics. He was also infamous for blowing up girls’ schools and targeting other education infrastructure in tribal areas.

He had recently arrived in Bajaur two weeks ago on the direct orders of Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, where the Pakistani intelligence and special forces tracked and eliminated him.

KEY TERRORIST ACTIVITIES

As an act symbolic of his extremist ideology, Qari Amjad was in burning and destruction of girls’ schools.

He orchestrated multiple suicide bombings as well as planning IED attacks on security convoys and civilian installations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and erstwhile FATA.

Qari Amjad also led the TTP drone teams, responsible for quadcopter-based bomb drops on border outposts. And one of his “Quadcopter Teams”, which he led, was dedicated to targeting girls schools in the region.

Meanwhile, he trained recruits for cross-border infiltration and ambush tactics against Pakistani security posts.