Key TTP militant handed over to Pakistan: Sources

Key Taliban commander Latif Mehsud, who was being held by the Afghan and NATO troops for sometime, has been handed over to the Pakistani authorities, along with three others, sources said Saturday.

Mehsud, a close aide of former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakeemullah Mehsud was arrested along with his guards and a tribesman on the Pakistan-Afghan border by the Afghan National Army, Dawn online reported, citing official sources.

Latif was crossing the border allegedly to buy weapons at the time of the arrest.

The former TTP commander was reportedly handed over to the Pakistani authorities following the recent visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Pakistan.

The Pakistani authorities had been demanding the return of the arrested TTP commanders.

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, alternatively referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organisation of various Islamist militant groups based in the northwestern Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), along the Afghan border in Pakistan.

The group aims to resist the Pakistani state, enforce their interpretation of the sharia and unite against NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.