Overview
Mufti Hassan Swati was a senior leader of the U.S. designated Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).Munir Ahmed, “Officials: Pakistani militant leader killed in Afghanistan,” ABC News, August 8, 2022, https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/officials-pakistani-militant-leader-killed-afghanistan-88091274. TTP is a Pakistan-based terror group that is the conglomerate of around 40 tribal and non-tribal Pakistani militant groups fighting against the state of Pakistan, Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), and U.S.-led coalition forces.Amira Jadoon, “Allied & Lethal: Islamic State Khorasan’s Network and Organizational Capacity in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Combating Terrorism Center, December 2018, https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Allied-Lethal-final.pdf; Amira Jadoon, “The Evolution and Potential Resurgence of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan,” United States Institute of Peace, May 2021, https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/sr_494-the_evolution_and_potential_resurgence_of_the_tehrik_i_taliban_pakistan.pdf. On August 8, 2022, Swati was killed in a roadside explosion in Paktika province, Afghanistan.Mushtaq Yusufzai and Jennifer Jett, “Pakistani militant leader with $3 million U.S. bounty killed in Afghanistan, sources say,” NBC News, August 9, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pakistan-militant-leader-killed-afghanistan-rcna42155.
Swati was TTP’s emir of Peshawar province.Pazeer Gull, “‘TTP Peshawar chief’ owns up to Tuesday’s sectarian attack,” Dawn, February 6, 2014, https://www.dawn.com/news/1085226. Additionally, at some point Swati was appointed a member of the group’s supreme shura.Pazeer Gull, “‘TTP Peshawar chief’ owns up to Tuesday’s sectarian attack,” Dawn, February 6, 2014, https://www.dawn.com/news/1085226. While serving as the emir of Peshawar province, Swati directed a suicide attack targeting Shiites at a hotel in Kucha Risaldar, a Shia neighborhood of Peshawar on February 4, 2014. The suicide bombing killed nine and injured 50 others.Zahir Shah Sherazi, “Suicide blast near Imambargah kills nine, injures 50 in Peshawar,” Dawn, February 4, 2014, https://www.dawn.com/news/1084915/suicide-blast-near-imambargah-kills-at-least-nine-in-peshawar.
However, in October 2014, five TTP regional emirs, including Swati, reportedly left the group and joined ISIS’s new branch in Pakistan—Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K). The emirs reportedly opposed peace talks with Islamabad.Bill Roggio, “Pakistani Taliban emir for Bajaur joins Islamic State,” Long War Journal, February 2, 2015, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/pakistani_taliban_em.php. It is unclear when Swati realigned with the TTP, or if he ever did.
On August 8, 2022, a roadside bomb detonated in Paktika province, eastern Afghanistan, killing Swati and three other TTP militants, including Hassan Ali, Omar Khalid Khorasani, and Hafiz Daulat. The TTP claimed Pakistani intelligence agents were responsible for the explosion.Pamela Constable, “Top Pakistani Taliban leader killed in Afghanistan; Shiites targeted in Kabul,” Washington Post, August 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/08/pakistan-taliban-leader-strike-afghanistan-shiite; Munir Ahmed, “Officials: Pakistani militant leader killed in Afghanistan,” ABC News, August 8, 2022, https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/officials-pakistani-militant-leader-killed-afghanistan-88091274.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Insurgent, regional, terrorist, transnational, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Deobandi, Islamist, jihadist, Pashtun, Salafi, Sunni, Wahhabi
- Position(s):
- Emir of Peshawar
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after previously leading a violent insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The group is closely affiliated with al-Qaeda.
History
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.