Pakistan Taliban Appoints New Leader

Maulana Fazlullah

Maulana Fazlullah has been elected by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as their new chief, after the death of the previous leader in a US drone strike, a spokesperson for the group has said.

The spokesman told the Reuters news agency that his appointment meant that peace talks with the Pakistan government were now off the table.
Fazlullah led the Taliban’s brutal two-year rule in Pakistan’s northwestern valley of Swat from 2007 to 2009, before a military operation retook the area.
He takes over leadership of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike last Friday.
Khalid Haqqani had been named Fazlullah’s deputy, according to TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid.
“I congratulate all the Muslim brothers that Maulana Fazlullah has been elected as the new chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” Asmatullah Shaheen, the interim TTP chief, said, according to the AFP news agency.