Taliban Commander: Abdullah Mahsud Killed in Pakistan     
'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau

ISLAMABAD: A top militant commander Abdullah Mahsud was killed in the wee hours of Tuesday during a raid by Balochistan Police in the city of Zhob.

Announcing this, spokesman for Pakistan Interior Ministry Brig (Retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said that Abdullah Mahsud blew himself up to avoid arrest when police cordoned off his hideout.

Giving the details, he said his movement was being observed for last two to three days and last night he was reported in a house of one Sheikh Muhammad Ayub.

He was accompanied by another individual with the name of Abdul Rehman Mahsud, when police approached the house for the arrest of inmates.

“Abdullah Mahsud blew himself up to avoid arrest while the remaining three inmates of the house were arrested,” he said.

The spokesman said the body of Abdullah Mahsud have been shifted to hospital for autopsy.

He said Abdullah Mahsud was an active Taliban Commander and a supporter of Al-Qaeda’s network and he lost a leg to a land-mine while fighting the Afghan Northern Alliance.

He was captured by American troops in December 2001, after the Taliban had suffered set back at Mazar-e-Sharif and was sent for interrogation to Camp delta at the American Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Mahsud was released in March 2004, and returned to a senior leadership role within the Taliban.

He was involved in abduction of two Chinese engineers who were helping to build a dam in South Waziristan.

One of the Chinese engineers was killed during the rescue attempt while the other was rescued unharmed, he informed.●