Pakistani Taliban commander to give up violence

TIMERGARA: Maulana Shahid alias Qari Shahid, a key commander of Miadan Taliban, announced on Tuesday that his group would lay down arms, leave the area and start a new life.
Talking to local journalists by phone from an undisclosed location, Qari Shahid, tehsil amir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, said that he was leaving the violence-hit area of Maidan along with his comrades. He didn’t disclose the number of Taliban under his command.
He said that Taliban leadership had promised the former Malakand commissioner Syed Mohammad Javid that they would not fight against government.
‘Security forces violated the peace deal and started sending troops to Maidan in April this year. The targeted local Taliban and in response they (Taliban) decided to fight only a defensive war,’ Qari Shahid alleged.
He said that Maidan Taliban didn’t want to fight against the state army. ‘I have tried my best to save Maidan from becoming a battlefield but I failed,’ he added.
To a query, he refused to tell about his destination and said he would continue jihad only against the infidels not the countrymen. To another question, he said that he was responsible only for himself and could do nothing about the rest of Taliban fighters in Maidan.
‘I have decided in my own capacity and some of my comrades accompany me,’ he added.
Qari Shahid, who led Taliban in Maidan for more than two years, was believed to have offered surrender to the government during the present military operation however the authorities concerned had turned down his offer