The second top leader of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Latif Mehsud, who was in the custody of NATO and Afghan security agencies, has been handed over along with three other members of the group to Pakistan's government, said Pakistan's Dawn News.

But Nazifullah Salarzai, spokesman to President Ashraf Ghani, said Mehsud was not in custody of the Afghan government.

"The names that were taken were not in the custody of the Afghan government," Salarzai said. "We are gathering information about this."

But according to Dawn News, Mehsud, a close aide of former leader of TTP, Hakimullah Mehsud, was arrested along with his guards and a tribesman on the Pak-Afghan border by the Afghan National Army (ANA) and were later taken by international troops.

"The former TTP commander was under the Afghan and NATO troops' custody for some time and reportedly was handed over to Pakistani authorities after the recent visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Pakistan," the report stated.

Mehsud, who was carrying out the group's attacks in parts of Afghanistan, was considered a keen mastermind of the TTP.

But according to some, the Afghan government should reassess their agreements with Pakistan.

"This man was detained and now has been handed over to Pakistan," Senator Hedayatullah Rehayee said. "He was handed over very easily and secretly to Islamabad. This is treason to the nation because Mehsud has claimed the lives of many innocent Afghans."

"All of the fighting and operations of TTP was led by Mehsud," said Safdar Hayat Dawar, a Pakistani writer and researcher. "I think his release is linked to the recent visit of President Ghani to Islamabad."

Former President Hamid Karzai's administration was criticized several times by Afghans for releasing and handing over the Taliban detainees to Pakistan, a country accused of harboring terrorist networks.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/3088

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