Islamabad: Mullah Fazlullah, the militant commander who ordered the assassination of teenage activist Malala Yusufzai, was today named by the Pakistani Taliban as its new chief to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, killed in a US drone strike last week.
The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan elected Fazlullah as its new chief; Commander Asmatullah Shaheen was quoted as saying by Pakistani news channels.
The move came almost a week after Mehsud was killed in the drone attack in North Waziristan on Friday.
Fazlullah, nicknamed “Mullah Radio” for his fiery sermons on an illegal FM station, led a parallel administration in the northwestern Swat Vally till the Pakistan Army sent troops into the region to flush out militants in early 2009.
He fled with hundreds of his fighters to Afghanistan, from where he ordered the attempt on the life of Malala Yusufzai.
