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A former Inter-Services Intelligence official and founder of the Afghan Taliban has been killed by terrorists in North Waziristan nearly ten months after he was kidnapped, intelligence sources have confirmed. Sultan Amir Tarar, better known as Colonel Imam, was reportedly killed somewhere in the country's northwest, sources said. Geo News quoted unnamed relatives of the former ISI official as saying that they too had been informed of his killing.
Colonel Imam was kidnapped by Taliban along with former ISI officer Khalid Khwaja, British journalist Asad Qureshi and their driver Rustam Khan on 26 March 2010. They were travelling to Waziristan, where Qureshi intended to work on a documentary film on the Taliban.
On April 30 last year Khwaja was killed by the kidnappers, who accused him of working for the Pakistani security establishment and the United States. Qureshi and Khan were released in September apparently after the journalist's family paid a hefty ransom.
Colonel Imam, who was the mentor of reclusive Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omer, remained in captivity and was finally killed after the government failed to honour the militants' demands of releasing some high-profile terrorists.
The colonel, a retired ISI officer was known as warfare specialist, and was also the member of Special Service Group. He not only founded the Afghan Taliban but is also known to be behind the formation of the Afghan Mujahideen, who found the USSR.
While he remained in captivity of the militants for almost ten months neither the Tehrike Taliban Pakistan nor the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The Asian Tigers, a hitherto unheard of group, said they were responsible.
Usman Punjabi, head of Aisan Tigers, said they killed Khwaja who confessed that he was behind the arrest of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the prayer leader of Lal Masjid.
According to local militant sources Mullah Omer had Bahadur, the head of Taliban in North Waziristan, to release his mentor. Bhadur had even announced that Colonel Imam should be let go. But the group holding the colonel captive did not budge and moved him to a secret location.
While the Asian Tigers claimed responsibility for the kidnapping intelligence sources suspect something fishy, as it is not possible for a non-local group to keep a person in hiding for so long. Insiders say that he was in the custody of the TTP, but the Asian Tigers were made to claim responsibility to avoid a tiff with Bahadur.
Moreover, Colonel Imam was not spared due to his unpopularity among some hardened militant groups. The Ilyas Kashmiri group termed him as a spy of the Pakistan state agencies who worked against the Afghan Taliban and created rifts among thet Waziristan-based Taliban.
Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost in his book Da Guantanamo Bay Inzoor, which he launched after his release from the US prison facility in Cuba, held Colonel Imam responsible for the arrest of a number of high profile Taliban and Al Qaeda members.