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Qari Zainuddin killed, Baitullah accused

By Iqbal Khattak

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A “trusted guard” on Tuesday killed a militant commander who had recently announced his opposition to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, police and Taliban sources said.

Qari Zainuddin, leader of the Abdullah Group, was shot dead by his guard, Gulbuddin Mehsud, police official Salahuddin told reporters. “We confirm that Qari Zainuddin is dead,” he said. No group has thus far claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We were asleep after morning prayers when Gulbuddin opened fire, killing Zainuddin on the spot,” Kamal Mehsud, one of Zainuddin’s guards, said. The assailant escaped in the ensuing confusion, he added. Officials gave no motive for the killing, but Zainuddin’s aide Baz Muhammad, who witnessed the attack, told AFP the gunman was “an agent of Baitullah Mehsud”, acting on the orders of the Al Qaeda-linked warlord. “It was definitely Baitullah’s man who infiltrated our ranks, and he has done his job,” he told the Associated Press, vowing to avenge the death. He also filed a criminal complaint with local police, alleging the shooting was carried out at Mehsud’s behest. Sources told Daily Times that Misbahuddin Mehsud, Zainuddin’s younger brother, had been nominated as the new chief of the Abdullah Group.

However, the group made no formal announcement in this regard. Zainuddin, in his late 20s, captured media attention for publicly challenging Baitullah Mehsud by claiming the banned TTP leader was “maligning Islam” by killing Muslims and bombing places of worship.

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