Fazlullah hiding in Peochar, would be arrested soon: Malik

September 29th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has rejected media reports that top Taliban commander Mullah Omar was hiding in Quetta. A private television channel quoted Malik as saying that Omar was in Kandahar, Afghanistan and not in Quetta as was reported by The Sunday Times.

September 15th, 2009 PESHAWAR - North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain has said that Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah would be nabbed dead or alive soon as the security forces have tightened the noose around him. Hussain claimed that troops have surrounded the region where Fazlullah is believed to be hiding.

September 13th, 2009 LAHORE - The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat chapter chief Mullah Fazlullah has reportedly been seriously wounded and may surrender soon, a private television channel said. Sources said security forces have received information that Fazlullah is hiding in a cave somewhere in the Swat and Malakand Division and is hurt.

September 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Sunday that the Taliban commander in the northwestern Swat Valley was surrounded and would soon be captured. Faulana Fazlullah, supported by hundreds of fighters, rose in rebellion against the government in 2007 to enforce strict Taliban-like laws in Swat, a scenic mountain district 140 km from the capital city, Islamabad.

September 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani forces are "closing the dragnet" around Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah and he could be arrested soon, a media report said Sunday. Sources told The News that the noose around Maulana Fazlullah and his band of close associates has been tightened and "his arrest, or elimination, at the hands of security forces could happen within the next 24 hours".

July 27th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Investigators in Pakistan have begun interrogating Sufi Mohammad, a day after he was arrested for making anti-government statements. It may be recalled that the detained cleric brokered a failed peace deal that put three million people under Sharia law but was shattered by renewed Taliban fighting.

July 24th, 2009 SWAT - A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban has said militant leader Maulana Fazlullah is in good health, rejecting the claims by security forces that he was wounded in a military offensive in the country's northwest, the Online news agency reported. Pakistan military spokesman Maj.

July 19th, 2009 PESHAWAR - While news about him being seriously injured and nearing his death are doing rounds, Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah aka Radio Mullah has once again been heard over his illegal FM radio station. According to residents of Mingora, the largest town of the Valley, Fazlullah was heard making announcements on his illegal frequency three to four days back.

July 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that several top commanders of the Taliban have been killed and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Fazlullah was among those injured during the military operation in Swat and Malakand Division. "Our security forces have successfully contained the situation and targeted the extremist commanders.

July 2nd, 2009 RAWALPINDI - Top Taliban commander Mullah Fazlullah may have been killed in heavy shelling by the security forces, sources have said. Although the report could not be confirmed, sources in the security forces said that the troops had intercepted a phone call of Fazlullah.

July 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said senior Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has been seriously injured in fighting in the Swat Valley. In an interview with BBC, Malik said the Taliban militants are currently on the run, but the Pakistani forces will soon capture them.

June 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Government has claimed that the family members of senior Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah have been arrested. Talking to media persons here, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik said that the security officials have arrested the family members of Fazlullah.

June 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - There seems to be an apparent lack of communication between the Pakistan government and the military, when it comes to determining the current status of Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazalullah. While Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's Advisor on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik has claimed that security forces have 'encircled' Fazalullah, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that it cannot 'confirm' reports about the status of the Taliban commander yet.

June 5th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Fazlullah may have been killed in the ongoing military operation in Swat. Malik said "it will soon become clear whether Fazlullah has been killed or not." A private TV channel quoted the Interior Minister as saying that the army would not be called back after the Swat operation concludes.

May 30th, 2009 RAWALPINDI - The Pakistan Army has claimed that it has pushed the Taliban out of Bahrain and Peochar village in the Swat Valley, killing at least 28 insurgents including a top commander Khush Mir Khan alias Abu Huzaifa in the process. Security forces have also arrested seven Taliban from different areas of the valley.