‘Raheel the only person Taliban fear in Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, said on Monday that General Raheel Sharif is the only person in Pakistan who is feared by the Taliban.
“Just met COAS General Raheel Sharif. I told him he is the only person in Pakistan Taliban fear. Brave soldier,” he tweeted.
Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani together with his son Ali Haider Gilani met with Army chief General Raheel Sharif to laud the efforts of the Army which led to his recovery.
Ali Haider Gilani was rescued during a counter-terror raid by US and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan on May 10 this year.
He was kidnapped by militants in the outskirts of Multan on May 9, 2013, just two days before a bitterly contested national election in which he was campaigning.
NATO confirmed Gilani was rescued in the Giyan district of Paktika province by US Special Operations Forces and Afghan commandos. Following his abduction, Gilani was first taken to the industrial town of Faisalabad after which he was moved to North Waziristan.
Not long after his release, Gilani opened up about his three years spent in Al Qaeda and Taliban captivity. He also opened up about the dramatic turn of events that led to his release.
It was a drone strike in January that led Al Qaeda to hand Gilani over to the Taliban. But soon after, the Pakistan Army pushed into the area and the Taliban militants fled across the border to Afghanistan, taking Gilani with them.
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