PESHAWAR: The Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced a change in leadership after Ameer Maulana Qasim Khurasani and Deputy Ameer Omer Khalid Khurasani tendered their resignations with political shura.

In a statement issued to media on Wednesday, TTP Jamat-ul-Ahrar asserted that the outfit’s political shura accepted the resignations and has appointed commander Asad Afridi as Jamat-ul-Ahrar’s acting Ameer.

Jamat-ul-Ahrar’s spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan confirmed the development, saying it was a routine matter. “According to rules and regulations, changes may be made after six months,” he said.

The faction, which parted ways with TTP in August last year, had claimed responsibility for the Wagah blast in Lahore on November 2, 2014, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100.

Jamat-ul-Ahrar had also claimed responsibility for an attack on a Rawalpindi Imambargah in January this year, killing at least nine people and injuring 16.

The TTP splinter group mostly comprises Taliban insurgents operating in and around Mohmand Agency.

At the time of the group’s formation, its spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, had confirmed that in addition to Maulana Qasim Khurasani as its chief, the group’s political shura includes Omer Khalid Khurasani from Mohmand Agency, Qari Shakil Haqqani from Charsadda, Maulana Yasin from Swat, Qari Ismail from Khyber Agency, Maulana Adbullah from Bajaur Agency, Mufti Misbah from Peshawar, Maulana Haider and Mansoor Nazim Shura from Orakzai Agency.