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Pakistani Taliban leader Ehsanullah Ehsan 'surrenders'
[Al Jazeera] A prominent leader of the Pak Taliban's Jamaat-ur-Ahrar (JuA) faction, Ehsanullah Ehsan
...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, now the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency...
, has surrendered to security forces, the military said.

The announcement was made on Monday by Asif Ghafoor, Pakistain's military front man, at a press briefing in Rawalpindi, near capital Islamabad.

Ghafoor offered no further details on the arrest, including when and where it took place.

"The people, the state and the institutions of Pakistain have made considerable progress in the betterment of the country's security situation," said Ghafoor.

"We have progressed to the point that the people who've been planning attacks on Pakistain's soil from across the border have started to see that the situation has changed.

"In this regard, I would like to share with you that the banned Jamaat-ur-Ahrar and Tehrik e-Taliban [TTP] spokesperon Ehsanullah Ehsan has surrendered himself to security forces."

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the capture, but Ehsan had been conspicuously absent from his prominent role in liaising with journalists since late 2016.

"If a person who is doing the wrong thing feels that they are on the wrong side and that they should come back towards good, then I don't think there can be a bigger success of the state than this," Ghafoor added.

JuA did not immediately offer a comment on the security forces' claim. If true, it would mark the highest-profile surrender by a Pak Taliban capo in years.
Posted by: Fred 2017-04-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=486032