Efforts afoot to arrest Ehsanullah Ehsan, says DG ISPR

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Army on Wednesday said that efforts afoot to arrest Ehsanullah Ehsan who escaped once he was taken along during an Intelligence Based Operation (IBO).
Ehsan, a former TTP spokesman, who had claimed responsibility on behalf of the group for scores of terrorist incidents including the 2014 attack on Peshawar Army Public School (APS), had proclaimed his escape after three years in custody in a Twitter post in February last and then in an audio message sent to Pakistani journalists.
While the army had remained tight-lipped about the militant’s reported escape or his whereabouts, then Minister for Interior Brigadier (r) Ijaz Shah, when asked, had confirmed the news in February.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar during a talk with Pakistan correspondents of foreign publications on Wednesday said that action was taken against army officers who were found responsible for the escape of the militant.
Ehsan – who had claimed responsibility of shooting Malala Yousafzai in 2012 – recently made the news after he allegedly threatened the Nobel laureate with a second attempt on her life.
Asked about the alleged threat, the director-general of the military’s media wing told journalists that, according to his information, “the Twitter account which was used to threaten Malala was a fake account”.
The alleged threat prompted Malala to tweet herself, asking both the military and Prime Minister Imran Khan to explain how her alleged shooter, Ehsan, had escaped from government custody.
“This is the ex-spokesperson of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan who claims the attack on me and many innocent people. He is now threatening people on social media,” she had tweeted. “How did he escape?”
The escape, the ISPR DG said, was a “very serious” matter that had been investigated thoroughly.
He also said that “efforts are afoot to arrest the militant again” but that he was not aware of his current whereabouts.
Unverified reports, including those of Reuters, claim the militant has since taken refuge in Turkey.
After Ehsan’s surrender in 2017, a local channel aired an interview he gave in custody in which he asserted that the intelligence services of India had been funding and arming TTP militants.
Maj Gen Ifthikhar also accused India of supplying arms, money, and new technology to the terrorists in an attempt to instigate unrest in Pakistan and disturb regional stability. He added that these terrorist cells operate with assistance from groups in Afghanistan.
“It won’t be a stretch to say that the Afghan intelligence is well aware of such developments,” he said. “Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan at all costs and to that end, it has taken all possible measures.”
He said that Pakistan has asserted its influence and power to the best of its ability to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban. “The country is not living in the 1990s anymore and its state structure cannot collapse like the past,” he said.
Speaking on the recent attack on the car of a non-governmental organisation in North Waziristan which led to the death of four female social workers, he said that terrorists are retaliating to the operation the Pakistan Army is carrying out in the region.
He added that the attack on the women’s car was also a part of the retaliation tactics.
“At present, there are no organised [terrorist] groups in Waziristan, the Army’s spokesperson said, adding that some “small groups from the region are resorting to petty terrorist activities there.”
“These petty extremists will be eliminated from Waziristan soon, the DG ISPR said.
The ISPR DG also shed light on the matter of missing persons and said that the committee formed to investigate the matter has shown great strides.
“Out of more than 6,000 cases receiving by the commission, 4,000 cases have been resolved, while the remaining cases will also be resolved soon,” said the ISPR DG.
Answering a question about the murder of ten Hazara colliers in Mach, Balochistan back in January 2021, Maj Gen Iftikhar said that some “important arrests have been made in connection to the killings.” He, however, refused to provide further details.