Mangal Bagh

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Mangal Bagh (1973 – 28 January 2021),

Nangarhar
, Afghanistan on 28 January 2021.

Personal life

Bagh was from the

Afridi tribe.[1] In his youth, he was ideologically affiliated with the Awami National Party (ANP) and used to wash cars at a taxi stand in Peshawar. Bagh then became a conductor of a bus operating between Bara and Peshawar and later became its driver.[3]

Bagh was not very educated as he attended only primary school in his native town.[3]

Militant activity

Bagh was said to be a successor of

Kurram Agency by tribal elders for inciting sectarian hostility. When Shakir was ejected from Khyber Agency, he turned over his radio station to Bagh, a local driver, and Bagh then also led the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam.[4]

Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam allied itself with Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In 2008, Bagh and his militant group retreated to Afghanistan following a series of military operations conducted by the Pakistan army in Bara and later Tirah valley.[5]

During his stay in Afghanistan, Lashkar-e-Islam allied itself with

Nangarhar after they allied themselves with ISIS. Nangarhar intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Dad Mohammad Harifi, however, said they had no evidence to prove if Mangal Bagh-led militants had ever attacked Afghan security posts in Nangarhar.[6]

Afghan Taliban sources said Mangal Bagh had once joined forces with the Afghan government-backed militia known as Arbaki to fight the Afghan Taliban in Nangarhar province.[5]

Death

Bagh was killed in a roadside bomb attack in

Nangarhar, Afghanistan on 28 January 2021.[7] No group or individual took responsibility for assassinating Bagh. Bagh's death was confirmed by Nangarhar's Governor Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhel.[5]

His funeral was offered in Achin District, Afghanistan. A few of Bagh's close associates attended his funeral.[3]

Previous reports of death

On 22 July 2016, Mangal Bagh was reported to have been killed in a drone attack in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.[8]

However, in May 2017, Inter-Services Public Relations tacitly admitted that reports of Bagh's death were false when they announced that Pakistani forces conducted an operation in Khyber Agency, killing several militants after receiving a tip-off relating to the presence of Bagh.[9]

Reports of Bagh's death were proven false when the United States added Bagh to the U.S. State Department's

Rewards for Justice wanted list on 7 March 2018.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Zaidi, Syed Manzar Abbas (1 November 2008). "A Profile of Mangal Bagh" (PDF). The Long War Journal. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  2. Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  3. ^ a b c "Blast in Afghanistan kills Mangal Bagh". Dawn News. 29 January 2021.
  4. ^ Sonya Fatah FM Mullahs Columbia Journalism Review August 2006 Archived 23 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b c d "Mangal Bagh killed in Afghanistan". The News. 29 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Mangal Bagh group gaining strength in Nangarhar". Pajhwok News. 19 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Pakistan's top fugitive militant commander killed in Afghanistan blast". The Express Tribune. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Mangal Bagh 'is dead'". News.az. 25 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  9. ^ "PAF jets pound militant hideouts in Khyber Agency, many terrorists killed | Pakistan Today".
  10. ^ "Rewards for Justice - Wanted for Terrorism - Mangal Bagh".
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