Taliban claims Fazlullah is alive, vows to continue 'jihad'

Peshawar, July 23 (ANI): The Taliban has rejected reports about its Swat commander Mullah Fazlullah being seriously injured, and has vowed to continue its 'jihad'.

Talking to a foreign news agency over telephone from an undisclosed location, self proclaimed Taliban spokesperson Muslim Khan claimed that the whole Taliban leadership was alive and united.

"Taliban chief Fazlullah is alive, healthy and has never been wounded. All of the Taliban leadership in Swat are alive and are in hiding with a strategy. We will continue our jihad until the enforcement of Islamic sharia," Khan said.

He also rejected reports of severe harm being done to the Taliban during the Swat military offensive.

"Army artillery and tanks cannot prevent us from achieving our objective," The Dawn quoted Khan, as saying.

Over the past few days media reports as well as the Pakistan Army have been claiming that Fazlullah, who has a 50-million-rupee bounty on his head, has been grievously wounded in missile hit and is on his death bed.

However, neither the Pakistan government nor the Army was able to confirm the reports.

Recently, Mingora residents said they had heard Fazlullah aka Radio Mullah over his illegal FM radio station, but it could not be confirmed whether the broadcast was live or a pre-recorded one. (ANI)