Unknown Fate Awaits Former Taliban Spokesman

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan , Asharq Al-Awsat
Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan , Asharq Al-Awsat
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Unknown Fate Awaits Former Taliban Spokesman

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan , Asharq Al-Awsat
Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan , Asharq Al-Awsat

The fate of former Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan remains unclear in light of the Peshawar High Court’s decision which prohibited the government from releasing him under any circumstances.

Ehsan remains detained by Pakistani security services. According to government officials, he is undergoing extensive interrogation.

It is worth noting that the Pakistani government sought in 2014 to grant him general amnesty, after he admitted in a clip that the Pakistani Taliban had carried out terrorist operations inside Pakistani cities commissioned by Indian intelligence.

Immediately after local press reported the Pakistani government's intention to release Ehsan, the parents of students who died in the bombing of an army school in Peshawar petitioned the Supreme Court in Peshawar, demanding the court to compel the government not to release him under any circumstances.

In response to the petition, the Supreme Court ordered the government not to release Ehsan.

Subsequently, Pakistani Interior Minister Muhammad Tallal Badar Chaudhary told his country's Senate that Ehsan would appear before the military court.

The statement by the Pakistani Interior Minister was made in response to rising concerns by Senate members on the possibility of Ehsan’s release under a deal between him and Pakistani security services.

The Interior Minister added that these fears were unfounded because “security services did not intend to pardon him from the start.”



US Ambassador Asks Israel to Investigate Death of US Citizen in West Bank

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
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US Ambassador Asks Israel to Investigate Death of US Citizen in West Bank

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday he has asked Israel to "aggressively" investigate the death of an American citizen who was beaten to death in the West Bank.

"There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old," Huckabee said in a post on X.

The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately provide comment. Israel's military previously said Israel was investigating the incident.

US citizen Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, was severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

His family, from Tampa, Florida, said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital.

"We must honor his memory by speaking out against violence and working toward a future of peace and dignity," US Representative Kathy Castor, who represents Tampa, said in a post on X. "The Administration must work with our international partners to ensure the protection of Americans abroad."

Some members of the US House of Representatives have condemned the killing of Musallet, and others have called on the US State Department to investigate the incident.

The department did not immediately respond to those calls.

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023, according to rights groups.