Report Says Missing Ex-Intelligence Officials, Journalists with Taliban, The News International, 9 April 2010

EXCERPT: "There was a likely breakthrough on Thursday in mysterious disappearance of the five persons, including two former intelligence officers and two British passport-holder journalists as Taliban sources said they were safe and sound and staying with Commander Waliur Rahman in South Waziristan. 'They are still working on their project,' claimed a senior Taliban commander, who belongs to the Mehsud militants operating in South Waziristan. Pleading anonymity, the Taliban commander said that former intelligence officials Col (retd) Imam and Khalid Khwaja, presently chairman of Defence for Human Rights, along with some other colleagues had arrived in Mir Ali, the second biggest town of North Waziristan, a few days ago to meet TTP commander Waliur Rahman. [...] He said they knew Col Imam and his men were making a documentary for a foreign news channel and they happily consented to help them in their job as the Pakistani media had stopped covering their activities. 'We are not happy with the Pakistani media as it has stopped following objectivity and was pursuing only the government agenda,' he complained. Though he refused to mention the place where Col Imam and his associates were staying, the commander said they were staying somewhere in Shaktoi, an area still in Taliban control in South Waziristan. The US spy planes last January carried out a number of missile attacks in Shaktoi in which a number of foreign and tribal militants lost their lives. It was in Shaktoi where the US drone had struck a suspected militant hideout on January 14-15 in which US and Pakistani security agencies believe Hakimullah Mehsud was killed."

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Related articles:
Former ISI official denies Pak claims that Mehsud is dead, Hindustan Times, 15 March 2010
Khawaja's petition blocks extradition of Mullah Baradar, Quetta Shura leaders [blog], The Long War Journal, 26 February 2010
Five key Taliban commanders killed in Shaktoi, DAWN, 19 January 2010
Who is Colonel Imam? [blog], The Long War Journal, 15 October 2009

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Former ISI officials accused of training Taliban, 5 March 2010