Adnan Rashid

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| name = Adnan Rashid

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|10|1|df=y}}

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| other_names = Qari Sahib

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| organization = Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan

| known_for = Attack on former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf
Mastermind of the 2013 Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak

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Adnan Rashid (born 1 October 1979) is a Pakistani cricket umpire and militant commander of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and former junior technician of the Pakistan Air Force.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/05/16/paf-officer-turned-jihadi-talks-about-his-change-of-heart/|title=PAF officer-turned-jihadi talks about his change of heart | Pakistan Today|website=www.pakistantoday.com.pk}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/the-jaish-e-mohammads-fidayeen-factory-how-masood-azhar-set-up-his-industry-of-terror-in-kashmir-6129311.html|title=The Jaish-e-Mohammad's fidayeen factory: How Masood Azhar set up his industry of terror in Kashmir|website=Firstpost|date=22 February 2019 }} He is the chief of Ansar Al-Aseer, the TTP's unit tasked to free militant prisoners.

Personal life

Rashid, an ethnic Pashtun, is a resident of the Chota Lahor area of Swabi district. He joined the Pakistan Air Force as a junior technician in 1997, but was later dismissed due to his Salafist extremist ideology.{{cite web|author=Imran Kazmi |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/711825/bannu-jail-absconder-shown-with-taliban-in-a-video-footage |title=Bannu Jail absconder shown with Taliban in a video footage |work=Dawn|location=Pakistan |date=19 April 2012 |accessdate=22 February 2014}}

Militant activity

Rashid was convicted for an attack on then President General Pervaiz Musharraf in December 2003 and was given the death penalty. However, he was freed, along with 400 other inmates, by Taliban militants when they stormed the Bannu Prison in 2012.{{cite web|author=Ismail Khan |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1033064/jailbreak-it-wasnt-an-intelligence-failure-for-once |title=Jailbreak: it wasn't an intelligence failure for once |work=Dawn|location=Pakistan |date=31 July 2013 |accessdate=22 February 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/bannu-jailbreak-police-spy-agencies-responsible_775885.html |title=Bannu jailbreak: Police, spy agencies responsible |date=17 May 2012 |publisher=Zeenews.india.com |accessdate=22 February 2014}}

He masterminded the Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak on 30 July 2013, in which 175 prisoners were freed including 35 high-profile militants.{{cite web|author=Zahir Shah Sherazi |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1032777/pakistani-taliban-free-over-175-inmates-in-di-khan-jailbreak |title=Pakistani Taliban free over 175 inmates in DI Khan jailbreak |work=Dawn|location=Pakistan |date=30 July 2013 |accessdate=22 February 2014}}

Rashid wrote a letter to teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban, saying that he wished that the attack had not happened, but told her that she was targeted because she speaks against the Taliban.{{cite web|author=Saba Imtiaz|author-link=Saba Imtiaz|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/17/taliban-letter-malala-yousafzai |title=Taliban's letter to Malala Yousafzai: this is why we tried to kill you |work=The Guardian |date=17 July 2013 |accessdate=22 February 2014}}

On 11 July 2014, Adnan Rashid was reportedly captured along with three other militants by Pakistani security forces at his family residence near the town of Wana, South Waziristan. He was said to have fled to the area from North Waziristan after being injured during Operation Zarb-e-Azb. His arrest was confirmed by the TTP in a statement released on 16 July.{{cite news|last1=Moore|first1=Harriet|title=OSINT Summary: Pakistani security forces detain senior TTP commander|url=http://www.janes.com/article/40886/osint-summary-pakistani-security-forces-detain-senior-ttp-commander|accessdate=18 July 2014|work=IHS Jane's Terrorism & Insurgency Monitor|date=16 July 2014|ref=Janes-16July2014}} However, later in July 2014, Reuters reported that Pakistani security officials and Pakistani Taliban commanders denied that Rashid was in custody. One military source described the initial reports of the arrest as a "mixup", while two associates of Rashid said the arrest report had been spread in an attempt to get him to react so that security forces could trace his whereabouts.{{cite news|title=Pakistan officials say al Qaeda trainer, not Taliban militant, arrested|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-security-idUSKBN0FT17O20140724|accessdate=1 August 2014|work=Reuters|date=24 July 2014}}