Former Spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban Surrenders<br />After he was fired, Mr. Mohmand joined a hard-line splinter Taliban group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (also spelled<br />Jamaat-e-Ahrar), which has claimed most of the terrorist attacks in Pakistan in recent years.<br />Mr. Mohmand said that His surrender is very significant as it gives an impression that Ahrar is suffering from internal differences and division,<br />Mr. Mohmand was one of the most recognizable faces of the Pakistani Taliban, officially known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, until 2013.<br />There has been some news media speculation in Pakistan<br />that Mr. Mohmand had been seeking the military’s protection from reprisal attacks by his former peers.<br />By SALMAN MASOOD and IHSANULLAH TIPU MEHSUDAPRIL 17, 2017<br />ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani military said Monday<br />that a high-profile militant leader had surrendered, calling it a significant victory in efforts against the remnants of the Pakistani Taliban.<br />Mr. Mohmand’s voice and announcements laid claim to a long litany of terrorist violence, including the attack on Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who would become a Nobel laureate for her education advocacy work; the shooting of Hamid Mir, a prominent Pakistani journalist<br />and talk-show host; and the killing of 11 mountain climbers in northern Pakistan in 2013.<br />Two members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the news media, insisted<br />that it was a case of voluntary surrender after the group had suffered huge losses to Pakistani military offensives.
