A notorious Taliban commander, Abdul Khaliq Haqqani, along with his fighters, reportedly surrendered to security forces in North Waziristan Agency, Pakistan’s Daily Times reported on Tuesday. 

According to the report, well-placed sources told the media outlet that Haqqani was one of the leading Shura Council members of former Taliban head, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, in North Waziristan.

Daily Times reported that Haqqani had once led an offshoot group of Taliban known as Inteqam-e-Waziristan faction. 

Sources close to the development said that Haqqani, who had claimed credit for some high-profile terror attacks, was wanted by the security forces in a number of cases. 

“Abdul Khaliq Haqqani and some of his group’s fighters laid down their arms and shunned violence,” the Daily Times reported. 

According to the report, before surrendering, Haqqani had wanted to move to Afghanistan with his fighters in order to dodge Pakistan’s Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the North Waziristan.

Before he joined the insurgent group, Haqqani was head of the Gulshan-e-Ilm, a madrassa in Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan Agency. 

In 2008, he had threatened to unleash a group of suicide bombers if American or NATO forces stepped foot on the soil of the tribal region.