PESHAWAR  - Ahrar-ul-Hind (AuH), a splinter group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the other day (Friday) threatened to stage suicide attacks across the country if the government did not stop military operation against militants in North Waziristan Agency.
“We will target security forces all around the country. Our suicide bombers have reached the major cities of the country. This time the focus of our attacks will be Punjab, as all policies are formulated there,” said Asad Mansoor, a spokesperson for AuH, while talking to The Nation on phone from an undisclosed location.
The AuH under the leadership of Maulana Umar Qasmi parted ways with TTP when the former initiated peace talks with the government earlier this year. “AuH had asked the leadership of TTP not to initiate any peace talks with the ‘infidel government’ until the Mujahideen did not take revenge of the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud. They did not agree with us and the result is in front of all,” he added.
He further said that talks were under way between AuH and TTP and hoped that both the militant groups would soon reconcile, as both have a common enemy (security forces of Pakistan). According to the AuH, the ongoing military operation has resulted in the killings of innocent people and AuH ‘will avenge the killings.’
The AuH became active when the TTP leadership initiated peace talks with the government and during that period the group claimed responsibility for different attacks against the security forces. “We had carried out attacks in different parts of the country like Peshawar and Quetta and we have the capability to reach our targets,” warned Abu Mansoor. The spokesperson also revealed formation of a new central Shura of AuH under the leadership of Qasmi. “We have formed a new Shura (council) with members from all around the country,” he added.
The leading members of the shura are Maulana Habib-ul-Haq, popularly known as Nazim Sahib (Malakand division), Maulana Yaseen (Malakand division), Maulana Salih (Malakand Division), Maulana Hamza (Mohmand Agency), Maulana Naik Salam Haider (Orakzai Agency), Misbahuddin Sayyad (Kohat), and Abu Ibrahim (Punjab).