Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) former spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan, who escaped from jail in Pakistan early this month, said that he is in Turkey along with his family. Ehsan, however, refused to divulge the details of how he manages usually high-security custody of the Pakistani authorities.
In an audio message released on Thursday, Ehsan claimed that he has escaped the jail. He further said that he had escaped on January 11. However, there no confirmation has been made by the Pakistan Army yet.
“I am Ehsanullah Ehsan. I am the former spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaatul Ahrar. I had surrendered to the Pakistani security authorities on February 5, 2017, under an agreement. I honored this agreement for three years, but the Pakistani authorities violated it and kept me in a prison along with my children,” Ehsan said.
Ehsan said that he will release a detailed statement later in which he will mention the agreement he made with the Pakistani security authorities.
“I will also mention on whose approval this accord was made with me. And what were the terms and conditions of the agreement and which prominent figure had assured me that the agreement will be implemented,” he said, adding that he will also explain the conditions in which he and his family were held in Pakistan.
The escape of Ehsan has created an uproar in Pakistan where the opposition is accusing the government of “sheer incompetence”.
Pakistan’s opposition leader and PPP member Farhatullah Babar on Friday slammed the Pakistan government and demanded an explanation over the release of ‘self-confessed terrorists’.
“Reports that TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan fled from custody highly disturbing. One of the two explanations possible; Complicity or sheer incompetence. What about massacred APS children? Jailing HR defenders and freeing self-confessed terrorists. Demand explanation,” Farhatullah Babar, Secretary-General PPP wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, MNA and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Mohsin Dawar criticised the government saying that no one is listening to their warnings about regrouping the Taliban.