Islamabad (EFE).- Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, reappeared in a video assuring that he is still alive and in Pakistan.
The video was published a week after a presumed drone attack in Kabul attempted to kill him and sparked the most serious clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in decades.
On Oct. 9, an apparent airstrike hit an armored Toyota Land Cruiser SUV carrying Noor Wali Mehsud, the TTP leader, according to Pakistani security sources.
Pakistan has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first recorded in Kabul since the US drone attack that killed former al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2022.
In the video distributed by the TTP on various digital platforms, Mehsud explained that “a few days ago, news spread of an air attack in Kabul, claiming that I had died.”
Mehsud stressed that the information about his death was “enemy propaganda” and added that he is in the Khyber district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, right on the border with Afghanistan.
“The accusations against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan are totally unfounded,” Mehsud added.
Although distributed by the insurgent group, the video has not been independently verified.
On Sunday, Pakistani security sources reported that Afghan Taliban forces opened fire “without provocation” at several points along the border. Since then, both armies have exchanged artillery and small arms fire on both sides of the border.
After several days of fighting, a fragile ceasefire went into effect on Wednesday; however, with the confirmation that Mehsud is still alive, the principal source of tension between Islamabad and Kabul persists.
Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring the insurgent leader and his TTP fighters.
The TTP, founded in 2007, unites various Islamist factions who aim to impose Islamic law in Pakistan, it has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against the army and the civilian population.
However, the group has been weakened by military operations and drone attacks, in which several of its leaders have died.
Mehsud assumed leadership in 2018 and has maintained an active insurgency from the border areas since then.
The Kabul government rejects the accusations, maintaining that Pakistan must resolve its own internal security problems. EFE
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