Pakistan Taliban sacks its spokesman

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has sacked its spokesman, media reports said Tuesday.

The TTP statement, posted on its Omar Media site, said Shahidullah Shahid was the nom de guerre for the TTP spokesman and the group had allowed Abu Omar Sheikh Maqbool to use it, Dawn online reported.

However, Sheikh Maqbool continued to use the pseudonym despite his removal from the position, the statement said.

It said that Sheikh Maqbool was removed and another "brother" was named to replace him, but since the decision was not made public, the former TTP spokesman took advantage of the situation.

"Sheikh Maqbool is not Shahidullah Shahid," it said.

It is a nom de guerre of the TTP spokesman, it added in its Urdu, Pashto and Arabic statement.

The statement reiterated TTP leader Mulla Fazlullah's oath of allegiance to Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and added that the name of the new TTP spokesman would be made public soon.

Sheikh Maqbool had pledged his oath of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) and its leader Abu Omar Al Baghdadi along with five other Pakistani militant commanders, indicating a further split in the already fractured militant organisation.