ASADABAD (PAN): The governor of eastern Kunar province on Saturday refused to confirm the death or presence of a Pakistani Taliban leader in his province.
Shujaul Mulk Jalala was speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News two days after a media report said a fugitive Pakistani Taliban leader, Mullah Fazlullah, had been killed during a clash with Afghan insurgents in Kunar which borders Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal region.
But the Pakistani Taliban have denied Fazlullah, 39, who led a bloody insurgency in Swat valley of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before he lost control of the area following a military operation, had died in the clash that allegedly took place in the Syedabad district.
“I am a resident of Syedabad, I have no report about about the killing or presence of Maulana Fazlullah in the area,” the governor said.
However, Jalala said a number of Pakistani Taliban fought alongside their Afghan comrades against government forces in the border region.
“There is no doubt about the presence of Pakistani Taliban in our border areas. They have joined Afghan Taliban in their attacks on Afghan forces,” he said.
He said recently four Pakistani insurgents were killed in a blast caused by their own bomb after they had entered Kunar from Bajaur.
The governor said no one would be allowed to use the Afghan soil against Pakistan and insurgents, who crossed the border into Kunar from the neighbouring country, had been killed.
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