Rehman Malik announces reward, protection for Taliban info

Malik said that most Taliban belonged to the banned Sunni militant outfits of Laskhar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba. - File Photo.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday announced a reward of 10 million rupees (around 120,000 dollars) to anyone providing information about the Taliban.

“The government will make arrangements to settle the informers and their families anywhere in the country, even abroad, if they fear that Taliban might hurt them,” interior minister Rehman Malik told reporters.

Malik said that most Taliban belonged to the banned Sunni militant outfits of Laskhar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has been accused of killing hundreds of Shia Muslims after its emergence in the early 1990s. It was banned by then president Pervez Musharraf in 1999.

The group played a key role in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl from Karachi and in twin failed assassination bids on key US ally Musharraf in December 2003.

Sipah-e-Sahaba is also a banned outfit behind attacks on Shias.