Pak Taliban find likely successor

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, October 20

Senior militant commander Asad Afridi has emerged as the favourite to become the new leader of a deadly Pakistani Taliban faction, militant sources said on Friday, days after a US drone strike killed the group’s chief.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban, has killed hundreds of people in bomb attacks and is considered one of the most dangerous militant groups in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation. The killing of JuA chief Omar Khalid Khorasani was a major boost for Pakistan’s anti-militancy campaign and is likely to help ease tension with uneasy ally the United States days ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Two JuA commanders said Afridi was nominated to take over during a meeting in Afghanistan by the group’s leadership council.— Reuters