Taliban released 37 hostages of another militant group in Mohmand Afency

GHALLANAI: Local Taliban of Mohmand Agency released the last batch of 37 hostages on Monday after a successful truce of the clerics' jirga comprising distinguished Ulema headed by Maulana Sher Ali Shah, a renowned religious scholar of Madrasa Haqqania, Akkora Khattak. The jirga was striving for the last 15 days to release the 100 people of Shah group being held by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's Umar Khalid group after a fierce gun battle in the border area of Khawazai. Both Taliban and the said jirga held several rounds of talks at different places and time. As a result, 30 prisoners were released by local Taliban on July 23 and six more, students of seminaries, were released as a good will gesture owing to the commencement of examinations of Wafaq-ul-Madaaris. Meanwhile, a local jirga of the elders of Durba Khel village in Mohmand also got released a minor boy named Haroon from the captivity of Taliban on July 28. It is worth-mentioning that Taliban of TTP's Mohmand chapter had overrun a training camp of another rival militant group named as Shah Group in the Khawazai area bordering Afghanistan leaving 15 of the latter killed and more than 100 including the chief commander, Shah Khalid, held hostages on July 19. Taliban had gunned down Shah Khalid and his deputy, Qari Ubaidullah later.