'The news is true': Pak confirms escape of Taliban terrorist who justified Malala shooting

Pakistan government on Monday for the first time admitted that former Taliban terrorist and spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, who was responsible for the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and carrying out the deadly Peshawar Army school carnage in 2014, has escaped from prison.

'The news is true, it's true'

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ijaz Shah responding to a question during an informal chat with media in Islamabad said that he had read reports about Ehsan’s escape. When pressed to confirm or deny the report, he said, "The news is true, it's true." He added that the authorities were aware of the escape and are working on it. "A lot is being done. You will hear good news," he said when asked what was being done to arrest him.

In an audio clip which surfaced on social media earlier this month, Ehsan said that he escaped the confinement of Pakistani security agencies on January 11, claiming Pakistani forces failed to keep their promises made to him during his surrender in 2017. Without revealing his current location, Ehsan said that he would make a detailed statement about the days of his confinement in the coming days as well as about his future plans.

Ehsan took the responsibility of several attacks, including the 2014 attack at Army Public School (APS) that killed about 150 people, mostly students as well as the botched attempt to kill Nobel Peace Prize winner and Pakistani education rights activist Malala who. After the escape, a petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court by the families of the children killed in the school attack against military and civil officials.

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Shuhada APS Forum President Fazal Khan said that army chief, ISI chief as well as the federal and provincial secretaries were made respondents. The petitioner sought contempt of court action against respondents for failing to follow an order by the Peshawar High Court of April 2018 in which it barred officials from releasing Ehsan.

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The petitioner claimed that the respondents had filed to steps to bring Ehsan to justice for his crimes and follow clear orders by the court. So far there was no progress on the petition as still mystery shrouds the escape of the dreaded militant as authorities did not provide complete details about it.

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(with PTI inputs)