KABUL – Notorious militant commander and head of the banned Laskkar-e-Islam Mangal Bagh has been killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, media reports said on Sunday.
Bagh was wanted by Pakistani security forces for involvement in a number of terrorist activities. The Government of Pakistan had earlier announced a Rs. 2 crore bounty on his head.
He was injured in a drone strike that took place on the night of July 22 in Khoudi Khola area of the Afghan province. Later on, he succumbed to his injuries, the reports claimed, while quoting intelligence and Taliban sources.
Lashkar-e-Islam has not yet confirmed reports of the death of their chief.
Mangal Bagh is also referred as Haji Amir Mangal Bagh. He belonged to the Afridi tribe and hailed from Pakistan’s Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency.
Mangal Bagh was said to be an ordinary transporter, who later formed the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam.
Although most of the fighters of his group fled to Afghanistan as a result of the Pakistan Army’s Operation Zarb-e-Azb, several members of the banned group are still in Bara and other areas of the Khyber Agency, according to sources.
