The pro-government head of the Taliban in North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, on Thursday threatened to carry out retaliatory attacks in the settled areas of the country if the government failed to stop the US drone strikes in the tribal areas.
Hafiz Gul Bahadur, while presiding over a meeting of the Taliban Shura at an undisclosed location of the tribal agency, directed his men to prepare for “avenging the killing of innocent Waziris slain in unjustified and repeated attacks by the CIA-operated US drones”.
In a statement issued to the press after the meeting, local Taliban spokesman Ahmadullah Ahmadi said the meeting unanimously decided to abide by the peace agreement they had signed with the government but hastened to add that the US missile strikes would not be tolerated and would be responded in the same coin by carrying out strikes in settled parts of the country.
The statement did not reveal the number or identities of militant commanders attending the meeting. Threatening of targeted attacks throughout the country, Hafiz Gul Bahadur claimed that every strike by US drones killed innocent tribesmen. “Any attack launched after midnight today (Thursday) will be avenged,” the statement quoted the Taliban commander as saying. The attacks would continue till the missile strikes were stopped, he added.
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