Pak Taliban commander quits over civilian deaths

A senior commander of the Pakistani Taliban said that he is splitting from the group to protest attacks against civilians.

A senior commander of the Pakistani Taliban said Monday that he is splitting from the group to protest attacks against civilians,a rare criticism of the militants by one of their own.

Fazal Saeed Haqqani said he is forming his own militant group,Tehrik-e-Taliban Islami,and will focus on fighting NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban,or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,is mainly focused on battling the US-allied Pakistani government.

Saeed,leader of the Pakistani Taliban in the Kurram tribal area near the Afghan border,accused the group of targeting civilians in suicide attacks and bomb blasts in mosques. We have repeatedly protested over killing unarmed and innocent people in these attacks,but no heed was paid,so we are splitting from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,he told The Associated Press by phone.

Incidentally,hours after the reports of the split,gunmen in a car opened fire and killed at Taliban commander Shakirullah Shakir,who helped train over 1,000 suicide bombers in North Waziristan. Shakir was riding a motorcycle near Miranshah,when the attack happened,officials said.