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Taliban killings in Pakistani city may be part of pattern

10 January 2014 23:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least two Afghan Taliban commanders have been killed in recent weeks in the Pakistani city of Quetta, militants and police told Reuters, the latest in what officials across the border in Afghanistan have described as a series of assassinations within the Islamic insurgent group, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The motive for the killings and the number of those killed is unclear, but the deaths could make peace between Afghanistan's government and the rebels more elusive as Western troops prepare to leave the war-torn nation. Afghan officials say several of the victims had been discussing unauthorized peace talks with the government in Kabul.

Officially, the Taliban has denied any such spate of deaths.

"Now the enemy is facing defeat they have turned to baseless propaganda and they call anyone who gets killed a member of the Taliban council or Mullah Mohammad Omar's close confidante," a Taliban statement said on Friday, referring to the movement's reclusive one-eyed leader.

However, four members of the Afghan Taliban told Reuters last week that the insurgency had killed some of its own commanders because the men were involved in unauthorized talks.

One Quetta-based commander put the figure at 18 such deaths since the beginning of last year.

Quetta is about 80 km (50 miles) from the Afghanistan border and is known as a place of refuge for the Afghan Taliban in the winter months. Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan of supporting the insurgents and giving them sanctuary, a charge which Islamabad has denied.

Both the Taliban and Quetta police say that gunmen shot Noorullah Hottak two weeks ago. Hottak was a member of the Afghan Taliban's 12-man governing body, named the Quetta shura, said Afghan intelligence officials and a Taliban commander.

But the official Taliban statement acknowledging his death denied that, calling him a "former" warrior.