Pakistan`s Vow To `Crack Down On The Taliban Appears To Not Include The Leader of The Taliban Himself

Photo: Taliban new leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is seen in an undated photograph, posted on a Taliban twitter feed on May 25, 2016, and identified separately by several Taliban officials, who declined be named. Social Media/File Photo

Reuters: Exclusive: Afghan Taliban leader taught, preached in Pakistan, despite government vow to crack down

For 15 years until his sudden disappearance in May, the new leader of the Afghan Taliban insurgency openly taught and preached at the Al Haaj mosque in a dusty town in southwestern Pakistan, associates and students told Reuters.

Details of Haibatullah Akhundzada's life in Kuchlak, near the city of Quetta, have not previously been reported, and could put further pressure on Pakistan to do more to crack down on militants openly living there.

The row over how far Islamabad will go to get rid of jihadi fighters and leaders has hurt relations between Pakistan and Washington, in part because nearly 10,000 American soldiers are in Afghanistan supporting the war against insurgents.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department's South Asia bureau said it was not "not in a position to confirm Haibatullah Akhundzada's whereabouts, past or present."

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WNU Editor: Since the beginning of this blog I have always heaped scorn on Pakistan and their unreliability as an ally in the war against terror and against groups like the Taliban. This is just one more example among many that proves this point.