Six top commanders of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, including their chief spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, have announced their allegiance to Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi of the self styled “Islamic State”.
They have also issued an ‘allegiance statement’ in this regard.
“I am confirming my allegiance to Amirul Momineen Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi and would abide by all his decisions, whatever is the order, and whatsoever the circumstances, I shall be loyal to him and obey his orders,” Shaidullah Shahid said in a statement issued in Arabic and Urdu.
The statement did not elaborate on the stance of the six on Mullah Omar, chief of the Afghan Taliban widely regarded by militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the Amirul Momineen (leader of the faithful).
The move is likely to aggravate significantly the fissures in the existing TTP hierarchy.
