KABUL — A Pakistani Taliban leader who spear headed the takeover of Pakistan’s Swat Valley three years ago may have been killed in a fierce battle with Afghan forces in remote eastern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.
Hundreds of militants have been trying since Sunday to seize control of the Barg-e- Matal district of Nuristan province along the Pakistani border, provincial officials said.
After a strong attack Wednesday night, villagers who took part in the fighting reported they had killed the Taliban commander, Maulana Fazlullah, along with six of his fighters, said Gen. Mohammad Zaman Mamozai, commander for Afghan border police in eastern Afghanistan.
Nuristan police Chief Mohammad Qasim said authorities were unable to confirm the death of Fazlullah, who gained prominence in 2007 as the “Radio Mullah” for his vehemently anti-Western sermons on local radio stations in the Swat Valley. The former mountain resort area fell under Taliban control until Pakistani forces drove them out last year.
In Pakistan, Maulana Faqir Mohammed, the Taliban chief in the Bajur area, told The Associated Press by phone that Fazlullah had gone to Nuristan with his fighters.
“We believe that he is safe and he has not been killed,” he said.
The Afghan Interior Ministry said one police officer also had been killed so far in the Nuristan fighting, which continued Thursday. Officials said about 500 Pakistani Taliban were involved in the siege.
Nuristan is a rugged, mountainous province whose people have a reputation for fierce resistance to outsiders.
