PESHAWAR: Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the former deputy head of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has been released by the Taliban after passing eight years in Bagram Jail, sources said on Monday.
Pictures of his release have been circulating on social media while a TTP spokesperson has also confirmed his release from the prison. Maulvi Faqir has publicly said that he has close ties with Al-Qaeda Chief Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is also said to have visited his home as guest in tribal districts.
In the past, Afghan government had set several conditions to handover Maulvi Faqir Mohammad to Pakistan. These conditions include the return of Taliban commanders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar but the exchange could not take place because of differences between the two countries.
He was known as a senior commander of banned TTP in Bajaur when Al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters had a strong presence in the tribal areas.
The Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security had arrested Maulvi Faqir on February 26, 2013, along with four other leaders of the TTP from Kunar in Nangarhar, while he was on his way to Pakistan. The security forces said that he was on the way to Tirah Valley, when he was arrested by the Afghan national directorate of security officials.
Faqir Mohammad, born in 1970, hails from Bajaur and received his early religious education from local madrassas. His teachers include Maulvi Abdul Salam of the JUI-F [Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl] who was assassinated by unknown assailants in March 2020. The TTP sources said that Maulvi Faqir has joined Maulana Sufi Muhammad’s banned Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) at a very young age. Maulvi Faqir was at the forefront of all the protest staged by TNSM as well as talks with the government or other people. In April this year, there were reports that the Afghan government has released Maulvi Faqir and three of his associates on bail. However, the reports were not confirmed by the Afghan officials.