Sheharyar Mehsud, a senior leader of the banned TTP, was killed in a bomb attack in the Kunar province of Afghanistan on Wednesday.
What happened?
Officials confirmed the death of Sheharyar in a roadside bomb blast, but his family members appear to be unaware of the incident.
While speaking to a correspondent from Dawn News, a close relative of the slain TTP leader stated, “We have no information about the killing of Sheharyar.”
As of yet, no group has claimed responsibility for the death.
Who was Sheharyar Mehsud?
The former TTP leader belonged to Shabikhel, a sub-divisions of the Mehsud tribe. Originally belonging to the Zangara area of South Waziristan tribal district, he fled to Afghanistan when the Zarb-i-Azb operation was launched.
Sources stated that 43 years old Sheharyar was a frontrunner in the race for the position of the TTP chief after the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a drone strike in 2013. However, the TTP shura nominated Maulana Fazlullah as its head and Khalid Haqqani as his deputy.
Sheharyar’s brother Ahmad Yar and another family member Anar Gul were also killed under mysterious circumstances for which he blamed his rivals in the TTP.
The former TTP leader’s father had been residing in Islamabad and had established an English medium school in Tank district, adjacent to South Waziristan.
