Muhammad Hanif (Taliban spokesperson)

For those of a similar name, see Mohammad Hanif.

Muhammad Hanif (Arabic: محمد حنيف‎) (died: November 2008) was a media spokesman for the Taliban from October 2005 until his capture by Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) on January 17, 2007.[1] Hanif and Yousef Ahmadi were appointed in October 2005 after the previous spokesman, Latifullah Hakimi, was captured.[1] His main tool of communication was e-mail to news organizations. On the day of his capture, Afghan intelligence officials released a recording of part of Hanif's interrogation. In this recording Hanif tells his interrogators that the Taliban's leader Mullah Omar was staying in the Pakistani city of Quetta under the protection of the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence agency.

Shortly after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Hanif reached the press by means of a satellite telephone, and read a statement[2] about the "martyr" which he claimed was written by Mullah Omar.

Death

Muhammad Hanif and three of his relatives were assassinated at his home in Nangarhar Province in late November 2008.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Mullah Omar 'hiding in Pakistan'". BBC. 18 January 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Taleban play down Zarqawi death". BBC News. 9 June 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Taleban's ex-spokesman shot dead". BBC News. 28 November 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.