Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah killed, claims NWFP minister

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.

July 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah aka Radio Mullah is injured and is hiding in the terrains of Peochar along with his close aides, Interior Advisor Rehman Malik has said. Malik claimed the security forces have surrounded Fazlullah and his accomplices, and that they would be arrested soon.

July 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Arrested radical cleric Sufi Muhammad, who had brokered a controversial peace deal between the Taliban and the government in Pakistan's restive northwest, is being probed for the extent of his links with the militants, the provincial chief minister said Tuesday. Interrogators are probing into the depth of the cleric's contacts with the militants and his role in terror acts, North West Frontier Province Chief Minister Amir Khan Hoti told Voice of America.

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 23rd, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Taliban has rejected reports about its Swat commander Mullah Fazlullah being seriously injured, and has vowed to continue its 'jihad'. Talking to a foreign news agency over telephone from an undisclosed location, self proclaimed Taliban spokesperson Muslim Khan claimed that the whole Taliban leadership was alive and united.

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 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has rejected government claims about Mullah Fazlullah fighting for life. TTP spokesperson Maulvi Umar said over the phone that all reports about Fazlullah were false and 'baseless'.

July 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Swat Taliban chief, Mullah Fazlullah has been grievously injured in the ongoing military offensive, and is on his 'death bed', a BBC report has claimed. According to the report, BBC reporters gathered information about Fazlullah's condition through the several residents of the Swat Valley, whom they had interviewed recently.

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 2nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah may have been killed during an operation in the restive Swat Valley, a media report said Thursday. The security forces had traced a phone call of Fazlullah, who was giving directions to his commanders for conducting more attacks, the News International qouted sources as saying.

June 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Swat Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah may have been injured in the Pakistani military's offensive against the militants in the country's restive northwest, Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying Monday. The security forces had laid a cordon around an area in which Fazlullah was holed up and there were reports of his being injured, Geo TV quoted Malik as saying, without elaborating.

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 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A day after the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain claimed that Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah has been killed in a military operation being carried out in the Valley, top security officials have denied the report. Senior security officials claimed that all the militant commanders including Mullah Fazlulah would be either killed or arrested by the Army, The News reports.

April 26th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban's Swat chapter commander, Mullah Fazlullah, has said that the Taliban would accept only 'Islam's writ' in the Valley. Making an announcement over his illegal FM radio station, Fazlullah said that the Taliban would not hesitate in more sacrifices if sharia is not implemented by the government in the Malakand division, the Daily Times reports.

April 22nd, 2009 MINGORA - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has said that Maulana Fazlullah is "not against the Pakistan Army" and the Taliban militants in Swat were forced to take up arms. Addressing a press conference, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the chief of Swat Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, had never opposed the army "as an institution." "We do not want war ...