The body of a high-profile Taliban commander, Sher Muhammad Qassab, was found on the roadside at his hometown, Charbagh, Swat valley on Sunday, four days after his widely publicized arrest on September 16. The government had previously announced a head money of Rupees 10 million for his capture.
Qassab was the key commander of Taliban forces at the important Charbagh area, the stronghold of Taliban militants in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and had allegedly confessed to being responsible for the beheading of 22 persons including Pakistani soldiers, according to the army. He was a butcher by profession and was the father of four sons, who were reportedly members of a banned Islamic fundamentalist organization, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), led by Maulana Fazlullah.
According to a brief statement released by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) and the Swat Media Cenre (formed by the army at the local level) on September 20, Qassab died of multiple injuries on Sunday morning after the doctors failed to resuscitate him. Further details as to why Qassab had suffered fatal injuries while in army custody, or why his body was disposed of on the roadside instead of being handed to his family, remain unknown.
The suspicious manner of his death, combined with the reluctance of the army to bring the details to light, creates speculation that Qassab was murdered to cover up connections between the Taliban militants on one hand and the army and the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) agencies on the other.
The shocking news also draws attention to the rising number of mysterious deaths of Taliban militants in North West Frontier Province. The situation is particularly worrying in the Swat valley where reportedly a total of 355 bodies of militants had been found on the roadside since July 13, as thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Swat valley returned home. The army claimed that the militants were killed when combating security forces during army operations, but in most cases the bodies were found after the victims mysteriously disappeared for a few days. It is highly suspicious that the army is abusing its power to commit extra-judicial killings.
The AHRC urges the Pakistani government to immediately initiate a thorough investigation into the mysterious deaths of militants in North West Frontier Province, especially in Swat valley. The government must intervene to ensure that all Taliban militants arrested by the army are brought before the court according to legal procedure for a fair and open trial. The present lack of transparency in operations conducted by the army is unacceptable and the truth behind these acts of mysterious killings must be brought to light.
