Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former Pakistan Taliban spokesman who was responsible for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and carrying out the deadly Peshawar Army school terror attack in 2014, has escaped from prison, according to a audio clip released by him.
In the audio clip, which surfaced on social media on 5 February, Ehsan said that he escaped the confinement of Pakistani security agencies on 11 January. He also accused the Pakistani forces of failing to keep their promises made during his surrender in 2017.
The authenticity of the audio and veracity of the Ehsan’s claim has not been verified by the security forces or the Pakistan government.
Ehsan Claims, He’ll Reveal Time in Jail & Future Plans
"With the help of God, I succeeded to escape on 11 January 2020 from the confinement of the security forces," he is heard saying in the clip.
It would be a big blow to Pakistan and its campaign to eradicate remnants of Taliban, if the clip is proved to be authentic.
Without revealing his current location, Ehsan said he would make a detailed statement about the days of his confinement in the coming days and also reveal his future plans.
Malala, 22, the youngest Nobel Peace prize winner, was shot by a gunman for campaigning for female education in 2012 in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.
Ehsan was also involved in one of the most gruesome attacks on children, anywhere in the world, when eight to ten suicide attackers wearing paramilitary Frontier Corps uniforms entered the Peshawar's Army Public School on 16 December , 2014. They went from classroom-to-classroom shooting indiscriminately and killed 149 people, which included 132 students.
Ehsan in the audio clip said that he surrendered to the Pakistani security agencies on February 5, 2017 under an agreement. However, the forces failed to keep their end of the bargain. He said, “I followed the agreement for about three years. But these shrewd security institutions put me in prison along with my children in violation of the agreement, he said, adding that he finally decided to flee from the forces.”
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