Deal with militant behind Malala shooting: Pak Taliban under attack

Kabul: At least three top militants of Pakistani Taliban have been killed in Afghanistan ever since former spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Ehsanullah Ehsan struck a deal for his escape from military custody in Peshawar.

The militant, who was responsible for terror attacks on the Peshawar Army Public School and Malala Yousufzai, has been allowed to escape under a deal by Pakistan which remains a facilitator of talks between the US and the Afghan Taliban, sources said.

Ehsanullah, the sources said, was set free by the Pakistani security establishment in lieu of the credible information he provided against other Pakistani militants who have been recently killed.

"All of this is part of the US-Taliban peace deal," the sources said.

Interestingly, Pakistan Senate Standing Committee on Interior last week had asked the Interior Minister Rehman Malik to submit a detailed report on the escape of Ehsanullah from the custody of security authorities.

Senator Javed Abbasi at the senate standing committee meeting presided over by Senator Rehman Malik, had said that it would be a serious threat to the security of the country if it was true.

According to sources, Abbasi had said: "If Ehsanullah comes in the clutches of Pakistan enemy, it may be harmful for the security of the country. But if he has been sent out on a mission, we would not take up the matter."

Just days after Ehsanullah's escape, Shehryar Mehsud, commander of a breakaway faction of the TTP, was killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast in the eastern province of Kunar, Afghanistan.

Sources in Kabul said Mehsud's men blame Pakistani intelligence agencies for the killing. Separately, there was a raid on another Pakistani militant group Hizbul Ahrar in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Sheikh Khalid Haqqani, the former deputy chief of TTP and member of the group's central committee, along with another commander Qari Saif Peshawari were killed.

As per a pact between the Pakistani security establishment and Ehsanullah, after he surrendered before them under mysterious circumstances three years ago, the former TTP spokesperson had agreed to give up his association with all militant groups in exchange of several benefits, sources said.

The Pakistan Army and ISI had promised not only to rebuild his destroyed house in his native village, but also committed to not subject him to any torture and instead give him a safe place and protection, 1 crore Pakistani rupees and permission to use a cell phone and internet.