Qari Abdullah (died March 2, 2017) was a long term senior Taliban leader, and spokesman.[1] He played a key role in the negotiation that lead to the 2014 release of Bowe Bergdahl, a US soldier who had been held by the Taliban for years.[citation needed]

Qari Abdullah
Died(2017-03-02)March 2, 2017
NationalityPashtun
OccupationPolitician
Known forTaliban leader

Abdullah was part of the Haqqani Network, a powerful branch of the Taliban.[2]

In 2010 Qari Abdullah was identified as the Taliban leader responsible for recruiting and training child soldiers.[3][4] He was reported to have been a former child soldier himself.

On March 12, 2015, Punjab authorities listed Abdullah on their list of most wanted terrorists.[5]

On March 3, 2017, a Department of Defense spokesmen reported he had been killed in a drone strike in Khost Province.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Kathy Gannon (2017-03-03). "Taliban say senior commander dies in suspected US strike". Islamabad: Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2017-03-04. Retrieved 2017-03-04. A Taliban official said Friday that a suspected U.S. drone strike the previous day killed a top commander of the militant Haqqani network — the man who in 2014 accompanied U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl when he was handed over to U.S. authorities.
  2. ^ Mirwais Adeel (2015-06-03). "NGO worker arrested for coordinating deadly attack on Kabul guesthouse". Khaama Press. Retrieved 2017-03-04. The statement further added that the detained individuals have confessed that the attack was plotted by the Haqqani terrorist network commander based Qari Abdullah in Peshawar – the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
  3. ^ Alheli Picazo (2010-11-25). "Child soldiers: The other Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants". rabble.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-04. Qari Abdullah is the Taliban leader personally responsible for recruiting children to carry out suicide bombing operations. Abdullah was himself educated in a radicalized madrassa, and as a child was recruited to fight in Afghanistan.
  4. ^ Shannon Firth (2009-07-31). "Hope for Child Soldiers". Finding Dulcinea. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02. Retrieved 2017-03-04. Qari Abdullah, a Taliban commander responsible for child recruitment, told Obaid-Chinoy, "The kids want to join us because they like our weapons.
  5. ^ Anees Hanif (2015-03-12). "Punjab police issues list of 110 'most wanted' terrorists". Ary News. Retrieved 2017-03-04. Qari Abdullah belonging to TTP's Lashkar-e-Khurasani group was mastermind of a suicide attack on Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) office in Multan. The government has announced five million rupees head money for Abdullah.