Taliban claims Fazlullah is alive, vows to continue ‘jihad’

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 12th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Following the confirmation of the arrest of five of its important Shura members including the spokesperson Muslim Khan, Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah has admitted that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been weakened in the region. In a pre-recorded message conveyed by TTP's makeshift spokesman Salman, Fazlullah said Taliban's movement was in a state of 'illness', but vowed that the banned out fit will continue its struggle and will bounce back.

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 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 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 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.

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 4th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Pakistan Army might be claiming success in its operation in the Swat Valley, but a large number of people, who have been forced to flee the region due to the military operation, have put a question mark over the offensive, saying no key Taliban leader has been nabbed or killed so far. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have fled the valley and have taken refuge in government schools here, are skeptical about the authenticity of the military offensive, The Daily Times reports.

May 28th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan has claimed that Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah has been killed in a military operation being carried out in the SwatValley. Announcing a whopping four million rupees bounty on Fazlullah, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said the Army has confirmed the deaths of several top militant commanders.

May 7th, 2009 LAHORE - Suicide bombings are justified in Islam from the days' of Prophet Mohammad, the Taliban has said. Spokesperson of the reclusive leader of Afghanistan Taliban Mullah Omar, Zabiullah Mujahid said the Taliban is working for the sake of Islam.

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 ...