A violent cycle of revenge has erupted across Paktika, one among Afghanistan’s nine eastern provinces as Jamaat ul Ahrar launched a series of deadly attacks against the banned Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, hunting down key TTP commanders amid fierce clashes that razed multiple hideouts.
Reliable sources confirm that intense fighting broke out in Paktika province where Jamaat ul Ahrar units targeted TTP positions with heavy and small weapons, killing senior figures including Noorullah, Khwaray Mehsud and Azmat. The scale of destruction and gunfire revived memories of the bloody confrontations seen in Nangarhar and Khost in late August when TTP factions battled Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s group over territorial control and espionage allegations linked to Pakistan.
Jamaat ul Ahrar commanders say their operations are driven by a singular objective, the revenge of their slain leader Omar Khalid Khorasani. They claim the group was reorganised specifically to settle this score.
During the Paktia clashes, several TTP commanders were eliminated and many others sustained injuries as the fighting dragged on through multiple positions.
In a separate assault in the Gurbez district of Khost province, Jamaat ul Ahrar militants stormed a major TTP facility using both heavy and light weaponry. The attack killed eight fighters, including high profile commander Mullah Ibrahim Stanikzai, wounded several others, and reduced the entire compound to rubble.
Jamaat ul Ahrar commanders allege that Omar Khalid Khorasani was sidelined and ultimately removed by current TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud during an internal power struggle. They further claim that Mullah Ibrahim Stanikzai and other senior figures played direct roles in facilitating his killing.
The group has now openly declared that every TTP commander eliminated on Afghan soil is being deliberately targeted as part of a sustained revenge campaign, which they vow to continue until Khorasani’s death is fully avenged.
